14 DAY TRIAL // French retailer Hermes sells the world’s most expensive and exclusive handbags, the famous Hermes Birkin, named after British actress and singer Jane Birkin. These totes cost between $10,000 (€9,127) and $100,000 (€91,255) for something really special, and take about 2 years to deliver.
They are the very definition of exclusive, so until now, Mrs. Birkin was thrilled to have her name so closely linked to the Hermes one. Not so anymore: last month, PETA conducted a new investigation into the crocodile farms that Hermes sources its leather from, and the star is horrified by the results.
She’s so horrified that she wants Hermes to stop calling the Birkin line by her name.
Findings of PETA investigation shock the world
The PETA investigation video is available on YouTube, but *please be advised that discretion is recommended when viewing it, as it contains images of violence that some might find upsetting. It’s under 7 minutes long, but it does a great job of painting a picture of the underbelly of the luxury fashion market.
PETA visited 2 crocodile farms, one in Zimbabwe and one in Texas, where reptiles are kept alive in horrible conditions for a few years before they’re slaughtered for their skin. Many die in great pain, hours after the operation meant to render them helpless.
Somehow, this was news to Mrs. Birkin, so she issued a statement to publicly ask Hermes to stop using her name to sell a product that monetizes on such unspeakable acts of cruelty.
Hermes has responded in a very non-committal fashion, Vogue magazine reports.
“Jane Birkin has expressed her concerns regarding practices for slaughtering crocodiles. Her comments do not in any way influence the friendship and confidence that we have shared for many years,” the statement reads. “Hermes respects and shares her emotions and was also shocked by the images recently broadcast.”
An investigation is underway
In the same statement, Hermes says that the farm from Texas shown in the video is not one of their exclusive leather suppliers, despite the fact that the manager claims this a couple of times in the video.
As for the other farm, Hermes assures all animal rights supporters that it’s launched an internal investigation to determine the validity of the claims. They perform regular, monthly check-ups on all suppliers to make sure they abide by slaughter regulation in the killing of the reptiles, they say.
Whether the findings of the internal investigation or the PETA video will have any impact on Hermes Birkin sales remains to be seen. However, it’s hard to believe that the same people who would pay a fortune and wait for at least 2 years to get their hands on one such luxury item would suddenly develop a heart and a conscience, and stop buying them.