My Birkin Blog

Interviews | In Pursuit of Luxury: Robert Chavez, CEO of Hermès USA, Discusses Prestige, Handbags, and Counterfeiting | media.www.harbus.org

Followers of the HBO series Sex in the City will remember the episode in which Samantha (Kim Catrall) went to absurd lengths to acquire a Hermès Birkin handbag. Samantha's over-the-top pursuit of the handbag could very easily serve as a proxy for the actual heights that legions of real handbag-obsessed women will climb in order to sink as little as $5,000 and as much as $80,000 into owning this bag. What is it about the rounded double handle, tiny metal feet, the fold-over top and the belt-like closure that wraps around the bag's body that drives women to endure the reported two-year waitlist? Well for one thing, the Hermès Birkin bag is the handbag equivalent of a Rolls-Royce or a dozen illicit Cuban cigars.
Harbus: Was the company surprised by the wild success of the Birkin Bag?

RC: Obviously we expected to have a good response to the bag, but we were surprised by the extent of the bag's popularity. I think one of the things that makes it so desirable is that it is very functional. Also, I think our clients appreciate the quality of the leather, the quality of the workmanship, and the beauty of the design. The bag was designed in house and inspired by Jane Birkin herself.

Harbus: Does product placement on television have an impact on sales?

RC: The results from a product being placed on a television show can be remarkable. It happened to Hermès a couple of years back when one of our bags was featured on an episode of Sex in the City. Part of the episode focused on the lengths one of the characters was going to in order to obtain our Birkin bag. Immediately after the show, our phones started ringing all across the country.