25 Apr 2024, 02:11 Kuching
24 Apr 2024, 19:11 London
The Hermès Birkin bag may be one of the most expensive and highly-coveted fashion items in the world, but British actress Jane Birkin, who was the inspiration behind the accessory, has announced that she wants the handbag to be renamed – because she doesn’t want to be associated with it anymore.
The bag, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, was created by former Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas in 1984; now, 31 years later, Jane, 68, is speaking out against the luxury label and her namesake accessory after learning that crocodiles are allegedly harmed during the bag’s production.
‘Having been alerted to the cruel practices endured by crocodiles during their slaughter for the production of Hermès bags carrying my name… I have asked Hermès Group to rename the Birkin until better practices responding to international norms can be implemented for the production of this bag,’ she said in a statement released by animal rights organization PETA.
They like her in France…
Well done for standing up for the crocs Jane.
But, there are other good reasons for wanting your name off those hundred thousand dollar bags – not just for now, but forever.
Just look who buys them.
Do you ever wonder what proportion of those pampered, greedy ladies actually earned or deserved the money they spend on these objects and how much of that money represents corruption and theft of resources, which should have gone to hungry children, the sick and neglected grandparents?
Take Rosmah Mansor for example, who is such a famous mega-buyer of these things. Why tempt her penchant for excess by making something so ordinary as a bag so unnecessarily expensive?
Malaysia has noted that the boss of Birkin (i.e. Luis Vuitton’s mega-rich supremo, Bernard Anhalt) is a member of Najib’s 1MDB ‘Advisory Board’, which is pledged to provide oversight of the management of the fund.
He hasn’t done a very good job on that front has he, given it’s RM42 billion in the red!
On the other hand, several of wife Rosmah’s mysterious millions appear to have been spent on Vuitton’s bags and luxury Birkin what-nots.
For Anhalt connections are good for business, doubtless.
But it does nothing for the reputation of Jane Birkin.
Your views are valuable to us, but Sarawak Report kindly requests that comments be deposited in suitable language and do not support racism or violence or we will be forced to withdraw them from the site.