September 7, 2004

Our Fall Fashion Issue: (Can You Even Lift It?)

ur Fall Fashion Issue:

(Can You Even Lift It?)

The Birkin Bag. You've known about it forever. You saw it when MARTHA STEWART had her day in court.

But did you know that the bag was named not for a designer, à la JUDITH LEIBER or KATE SPADE, but for a British actress who once posed nude with BRIGITTE BARDOT? We speak of the divine JANE BIRKIN, still lean, still leggy, who breezed into town to promote her new movie, the Parisian murder mystery sex farce "Merci Docteur Rey." Ms. Birkin radiates charisma. Her gestures are dramatic ; her long fingers and graceful arms move constantly, as if in "Hero," the new MAGGIE CHEUNG martial arts movie. WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!

Ms. Birkin is famous for two things: The song "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus," a heavy breathing number written for her by her late lover, SERGE GAINSBOURG, whose name Ms. Birkin drops frequently even though she left him, and the large, voluminous Hermès bag that sells for $6,000 to $80,000 and bears her name. Yes, they may appear pricey, but prorated over your lifetime and that of your daughter, they are so inexpensive you cannot afford not to own one, as our Boldface fashion editor cannot tell you too often if she is to have those big fat ads that coincidentally pop up opposite stories like this.

(Excuse us: instant message from Fashion Institute of Technology Young 'un : So you mean to say there is absolutely no connection between fashion copy and advertising? Our reply: Absolutely not! By the way, would you bring me that bulging bag of merchandise before you show yourself out? Of my life? Forever?)

The Hermès bag on Ms. Stewart's arm made her seem unapproachable and elitist. With Ms. Birkin, who is 58, it has the opposite effect, seeming to accentuate her adorable eccentricity and warmth. Arriving for our intimate tête-à-tête at a press junket, she plopped her heavy, worn Birkin bag at her feet, so that the contents threatened to spill out like her words, only not exactly alike, because her words have a British accent. The bag was introduced 20 years ago. It may, Ms. Birkin told us, be more famous than she is.

She displayed not a whit of jealousy as she said that.

How many Birkin bags does she own?

"One."

Don't they give you as many as you want?

"No, I gave the other one to the Taiwan disaster," said Ms. Birkin, who is always involved with political and social causes. "It went for nearly 20,000 pounds."

It seemed to us there might be more to the story, so we were delighted when we met ANDREW LITVACK, who directed "Merci Docteur Rey."

"It's a wonderful story about the Birkin bag," Mr. Litvack began. "Jane would never condone my saying it, and I'm saying it behind her back. The way that it happened was that she was on an airplane one day, and the guy next to her was the president of Hermès. He looked at the bag that she was carrying, which was a form of the Birkin bag but was in canvas or something, and he said to her, 'Hey, how would you like it if we designed a bag like yours?' It would be the first bag since GRACE KELLY that we've given an actress's name to. And Jane said, 'Sure, that would be great.' So she drew up a sketch."

"They called her like six months later," Mr. Litvack continued, "And said you have to come for the prototype of your Birkin bag. She went there, they gave her the first bag, she said thank you very much and, as she was leaving, they said, 'Madame Birkin, you've forgotten something.' She didn't know what she could have forgotten. They said, 'Madame Birkin, it's $5,000.' "

And - excuse us, our heart is pounding, we may have to take a pill - she paid it?

"She did. She got so scared, she did," Mr. Litvack said. "They eventually paid her back.''

These days, Jane Birkin gets the bags at 10 percent off and has set up a charity. Hermès makes a contribution every year.

Oh, and another thing: Although Ms. Birkin didn't follow Ms. Stewart's trial, she did notice the photo of her with her two Birkin bags.

"They're already quite heavy with one bag," she said. "She must be quite'' - here she flexed a bicep - "she must be quite a strong girl."

In our next issue: If backsides are the new bosoms, where do I wear my David Yurman choker?

- With Paula Schwartz