$203,150 Birkin Sold at Auction - How Much Does it Cost the Crocodile?
Recently, an unidentified woman paid an extraordinary amount for a diamond decked, 18k white gold latched purse covered with crocodile skin. The Hermes made bag is one of many covered in croc skin that have become frequent wardrobe staples for many celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Victoria Beckham, and the Kardashians.
But a life or death fashion bag also means life or death for the animals that the bags are made of. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’s website, snakes and alligators skinned for fashion “are usually caught in the wild, often illegally, and their skin ripped from their bodies while they are still alive.”
The Birkin is one of many famous handbags that Hereme’s produces. It was co-designed by British actress Jane Birkin, after she complained that her current bag had lacked practicality. The company, who does not use assembly lines, has been known for its high quality product and hand-made process.
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Birkins are lined with goatskin and produced in a variety of hides, which include ostrich, crocodile, and leather.
Alligator and Crocodile skins are the most expensive. The Louisiana Alligator Advisory Council reports that alligator hunting has increased in profitability. It spiked from six dollars a foot in the 1960’s to forty dollars a foot in the late 1980’s. The site also refers to alligators as a “renewable natural resource.”
Three other bags at the auction sold for $113,525, $95,600, and $80,663. Matt Rubinger, the director of Heritage Auctions said the prized Birkin was, “an extraordinary example of one of the world’s most exceptional handbags.”
Hermes salt-water crocodile bags are typically the highest priced bags due to limited supply. The crocodile industry is tightly regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which protects species that are potentially threatened by extinction.
