The record-breaking sale of Hermès’ original Birkin bag was among the most remarkable auctions of modern times.
Last month’s nine-way bidding battle opened with an offer of 1 million euros that instantly made it the most expensive handbag of all time. When bids reached 6 million euros, spontaneous applause erupted across Sotheby’s typically restrained Paris saleroom. After the auctioneer’s gavel fell at 7 million euros — meaning that, after fees, a then-anonymous telephone buyer would pay the equivalent of $10.1 million for the bag — cheers broke out.
On the other end of the phone, more than 6,000 miles away, Japanese businessman Shinsuke Sakimoto was processing the audacity of what he had just done.
“It was the most expensive purchase I’ve ever made for a single item,” said Sakimoto, the CEO of luxury resale company Valuence Holdings, in his first major interview since the landmark sale. “It was very exciting, but it really made me sick to my stomach.”
Sakimoto’s business is — in part, at least — used handbags. The ones his company resells may cost considerably less than the original Birkin, but they often retail for thousands of dollars. Yet, the 43-year-old is also an unlikely suitor for one of fashion’s most coveted artifacts, a prototype designed for the late English “it-girl” Jane Birkin that has since become a luxury staple.
