The Birkin Twins: Charting Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Love of the Birkin Bag
There’s no symbol of wealth quite like an Hermès bag. Models like the signature Birkin and Kelly retail at around $10,000 to $30,000 — at the lowest end. And as soon as you’ve left the Hermès store with one wrapped up in its recognizable orange box, you’ve already made money. If the price tag wasn’t enough, the Birkin and Kelly are considered “quota” bags, which means that in order for the pieces to maintain their exclusivity and limited availability, an individual can only buy two per year.
It is estimated that since the start of 2023 alone, the Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags have increased in value by around 8 to 10 percent. The Hermès Himalaya Birkin, for example, can fetch upwards of $450,000 on the resale market. That’s why most people who buy one care for it as if it were their first-born child. Some collectors even store their bags in specific temperature-controlled closets. And that is understandable. Because though you make money as soon as the bag is out of the store, once you use the bag as a bag, its value begins to plummet.
However, keeping it safe from wear isn’t the only way to care for a Birkin. Leading the charge in using their bags like bags rather than museum pieces are none other than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Whether it’s a beat-up Balenciaga Motorcycle resting on the ground or a scuffed duffle filled to the brim, the many well-loved, high-priced, and wildly coveted bags of the Olsen twins have frequently been captured playing their intended roles as useful, albeit elegant, totes.
Not to say it doesn’t cause a stir. When Mary-Kate’s worn-in Kelly first started making the rounds online, it divided the Internet. Some were shocked that one could treat a bag worth more than most people’s annual income in such a way. But others were inspired. At the start of 2023, sites like The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective divulged to us about an increase in interest when it came to visibly used bags, which undoubtedly has ties to the rise of Y2K aesthetics and the Olsen twins’ presence during the era.
Despite Mary-Kate and Ashley being known for turning up to various events with their trusty purses, the saga of the beat-up Hermès tracks all the way back to the late Jane Birkin. In 1984, Birkin met then-Hermès chairman Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight and told him about her need for a durable and functional bag that still looked good. This led to the birth of the Birkin bag, named, of course, for the actress. Birkin became known for using her bags, decking them out in various charms and keychains, even putting stickers straight onto the leather.
There is something so effortlessly cool about treating expensive bags the way you would a cheap dupe. Or perhaps, there’s just something weirdly refreshing about seeing rich people actually using their things more than once. (Is there something to be said about truly owning the object rather than letting the object own you? Unclear.) Is this sad? Perhaps, but in a world of rampant consumerism, the shredded Birkin is a rare gem that sends a powerful message. Whatever it may be, Mary-Kate and Ashley have truly perfected it — just the way Jane Birkin intended.
So perhaps it’s time we all took a page from the Olsen twins’ book of style and started wearing our clothes. Playing the long Hermès game isn’t for everyone, especially when it means spending thousands of dollars before you’re even offered a quota bag, or when wearing it automatically makes its value plummet. Luckily, the resale market has plenty of worn-in and well-loved Hermès bags available for a fraction of the price. And thanks to Mary-Kate and Ashley, these bags may even be cooler than a box-fresh one.
