Bringing home the Birkin by Michael Tonello
Ask any woman’s bag she would dream of having one day the majority will answer the Birkin. This bag myth was born of a rather ordinary meeting on board an aircraft. In 1984, Jane Birkin endless rummaging in her bag an object belonging to his daughter Charlotte, complained to his neighbor, while ignoring its identity, never finding what she needs. Jean-Louis Dumas-Hermes then suggests that the overall design time of flight, a bag that would meet its expectations. Thus was created the famous Birkin bag named after its inspiration. And this is Hermes Birkin bag, which now gets the leading role of the novel by Michael Tonello, “Bringing Home the Birkin” …
The story by Michael Tonello is enchanting, although my passion for the luxury sector leads me to deplore the activities of “reseller”. It starts with a trip to Spain, where Michael won by the various charms of this country will have only one idea in mind: to leave his native America to join the city of flamenco. His debut proved chaotic, the position he would occupy in the company of a friend’s jewelry will not ultimately be due, and Michael Tonello finds himself unemployed in a city which he does absolutely not the meanderings of language. Seeing its financial reserves diminish by the day, he suddenly has the idea of selling a Hermes scarf, sleeping in his closet … Yes but now, if not greater need for this scarf in Spain, the Spanish either! So he decided to put the scarf on the famous site selling online ebay. Appalled by the gain he will realize he learns that there are collectors Hermes, as well as collectors of stamps, which are almost all expenses for their objects of desire.
Those who do not even know what a Birkin will then survey the world in search of these famous bags, ranging from dating games, facing situations that are more or less humorous, using all the tricks to bypass troublesome formalities of the famous waiting list for two years, just to get the Hermes bag the most coveted in the world. With well-established techniques, its thriving business became the main source of income. Techniques that are obviously not for everyone …
Fascinated by the luxury sector, I can hardly conceive the resale of its products. Indeed, luxury is still in my eyes an exciting shopping experience, and I have a hard time buying second hand. Buying a Birkin is one of my wishes in the medium term, seduced by owning a coveted item for which I strained my patience. And if tomorrow the Birkin bags could be sold as easily as Louis Vuitton, it would change without a doubt my position on this it-bag.
When Michael Tonello sent its novel, I never thought that I would go with my own eyes. First I smiled against the envelope concocted in an orange Hermes shopping bag … But then, I must confess that the book led me to some reflection … I’ll let you discover from April … in “Bringing home the Birkin” …