Musings on Hermès’ Birkin, the Walmart version, dupe culture, consumerism, and the current state of fashion.

“It’s not just a bag, it’s a Birkin,” said the salesperson to Samantha Jones, the (fabulous!) PR executive played by Kim Cattrall in fashion’s favorite TV show, Sex and the City.
While that sentence might seem stupidly pointless today, once upon a time, it was simply social consensus that a Birkin was not just any kind of purse. ‘‘Owning a Birkin is more than just about having a stylish bag — it’s about holding a piece of timeless tradition,’’ says Deanna White, Bonhams’ Senior Fashion Cataloguer.
Now, before your newest prized possession arrived in Hermès' signature orange box, a significant amount of effort was put into getting that bag to your door. With rigorous professional preparation, Hermès artisans spend 18 months in nine production and training centers across France to master singularly French savoir-faire design techniques. Once they have achieved such a meticulous proficiency with this way of making, they start working in the production centers throughout the country.
"...France is synonymous with quality, refinement, and elegance, and Hermès leans heavily into this reputation," Deanna White explains. By tying its products directly to France's heritage of craftsmanship and artistry, the high-end house achieves a prestigious position that has been further cemented by the Birkin.
The story of the iconic Hermès bag dates back to 1983. It was conceived by pure chance after the label's former CEO, Jean-Louis Dumas, found himself seated next to the legendary Anglo-French actress, singer, and It girl Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Carrying her signature straw bag and placing it in the overhead compartment of her seat, the actress dropped it, and the objects inside scattered everywhere. As Dumas helped her, he said that Birkin needed a bag with pockets. The singer replied that if Hermès designed a spacious bag, perfect for everyday life and the demands of a young mother, she would swap her memorable straw bag for good. As the two exchanged bag ideas on the flight, Dumas sketched a first draft on an airplane vomit bag. The rest is history.
After the bag was produced, the Hermès CEO offered to name it after the actress, which she accepted, donating the royalties to charities. In 1984, the Birkin bag was finally released. With clean lines, a spacious interior, and a secure lock, the Birkin bag fully encapsulated Jane Birkin’s je ne sais quoi. It entered the sartorial scene rather gently, costing only an average of $2000 due to the market’s low interest in the bag. It wouldn’t be long until those days were over.
It was in the sleek decade of the ‘90s that the Birkin finally reached It bag status, with celebrities donning them everywhere — from It girl to end all It girls Chlöe Sevigny to “Posh Spice” Victoria Beckham. Since then, the purse’s price has seen a meteoric rise — nowadays, it starts at $8,500 and reaches up to a jaw-dropping $2 million. But why?
It's mostly due to the excellence in material and craftsmanship — according to AnnaGrace Johnson, the Head of Handbag Valuations at the online market of pre-owned authentic luxury goods ShopPrestige. The meticulous production can take over 48 hours, as a single highly experienced artisan hand-crafts a bag with the finest materials available. However, as an homage to Jane Birkin’s flair, the element that exerts the most influence on the price is undoubtedly its status as a wealth indicator.

With its high reputation during the ‘90s and early 2000s, Hermès Birkin waitlists were filled to the brim — with a six-year wait time being the longest recorded. The French label strictly controlled who could buy the bag, even among clients who had the money to make such a grand purchase. Hermès limited the number of bags a client could purchase in a year and didn't reveal how many purses would be produced. As a result, the bag emerged as a symbol of total exclusivity. At the time, a client needed not just the money to buy the bag but also the social relevance to acquire the opportunity to purchase. This dynamic is most clearly shown in Sex and The City when Samantha uses actress Lucy Liu’s name — one of her celebrity clients — on the store's waiting list to beat the status system and get the bag she so desperately wanted and could afford.
Although it's been 24 years since the episode aired, few things have changed. Waiting lists may have vanished, but Birkin's status remains at the top — same for its prices. While some people opt for the vintage route — be it on TheRealReal or Vestiaire, where prices tend to be a little lower and the models are more tailored to a client’s tastes — new ways of having a Birkin have emerged.
The Walmart Birkin has become something of a hot topic on TikTok and the high-fashion Twitter community. In case you haven't heard of this phenomenon: Fake Birkin bags in various colors are available at Walmart, starting at $75. Wirkin, Walmés, you name it. Some say it’s sartorial democratization. But is it really democratizing when what we only care about is status?
It's no breaking news that fashion and status go hand in hand — whether it's the constant rise of wealth-oriented trends such as quiet luxury and old money or the recurring economic dynamics present since the fashion industry’s establishment. The breakthrough comes when we pretend that dialectic doesn't exist. Status dynamics exist —and we still engage with them. After all, if it weren't for prestige, we'd be buying unbranded, affordable, and elegant leather bags, as stylist and fashion guru Kim Russell, aka @thekimbino, suggests on Instagram.
‘‘The use of fake handbags goes much deeper than the price,’’ Johnson says. “When you buy an authentic Hermès item, you know exactly where and how it was produced — mainly that it was produced ethically.’’ With the rise of fast fashion and the courage of exploited workers to share their stories, the issue of labor conditions has become something of a hot topic, too. As Johnson explains, when it comes to buying knockoffs, it's very unlikely to know where or how things are made, or what the working conditions are like. The Wirkin, like any other counterfeit good, could be made with unequal labor or in environmentally unsafe factories.
As I logged onto TikTok — something I rarely do — and searched for Walmart's trendy Birkin, one particular video caught my eye, showing exactly why people buy knock-offs. After giving a round-up and review of his ‘‘Walmart Birkin Bag,” content creator Jermain Garcia says, simply: ‘‘I kind of know what the functionality of the bag is. And it's really not meant to be a cross-body bag, so I don't think I'll ever use it.’’ That is, the Birkin bag isn't part of his sartorial preferences — at the very least, it can be understood that cross-body bags are. So he'll probably never use the one he shows in his video. But he bought it anyway.
In a world ruled by excessive consumption and the power of status, this doesn’t seem odd. Of course, people buy what they won’t wear, what they won’t use, and what they won’t eat. But they don't buy for the sake of buying — they buy to cement themselves socially. Chosen purely for the image of wealth and power that an original holds, a counterfeit Birkin bag carries no sartorial depth. People don't want the bag for its one-of-a-kind design, its craftsmanship, or its story, they just want what it represents: access.
Now that Hermès has announced price increases for the U.S. market, it's safe to say that this will be followed worldwide — and, along with it, a new flood of counterfeit products and vintage businesses. In a way, the faux Birkin answers the question surrounding the exorbitant prices of original Birkin bags: it’s not just due to its exquisite craftsmanship, but, above all, the prestige that everyone aspires to — a status so eagerly craved, even if it is built piece by piece with parts that aren't genuine at all. 🌀
Ana Beatriz Reitz is a Brazilian fashion freelance writer who covers anything fashion-related. As a Latin American fashionista, she values a diverse and inclusive fashion landscape and aims to make a difference in the complex yet beautiful industry that surrounds her. She has a weekly newsletter called For Fashion’s Sake, where she explores various areas of fashion. Aside from writing, she enjoys reading books, watching movies, and visiting museums.