Famous Hermès collectors

Jane Birkin

The Birkin bears her name. Her own prototype holds the auction record for any handbag.

In the early 1980s Jane Birkin sat beside Hermès executive Jean-Louis Dumas on an Air France flight to London; she told him she wanted a bag bigger than the Kelly but smaller than a suitcase and sketched the idea on an airsickness bag ¹². Hermès presented her with the prototype in 1985, stamped with her initials. She carried it almost daily for close to a decade with a nail clipper on a chain inside and stickers for Médecins du Monde and UNICEF on the leather ²³. In exchange for the use of her name, Hermès paid her an annual royalty, which she passed on to charities of her choice ¹. She gave the prototype to a 1994 charity auction for Association Solidarité Sida; on July 10, 2025, Sotheby's Paris sold it for €8,582,500 (about $10.1 million), which Guinness World Records lists as the most expensive handbag sold at auction ³⁴⁵. On December 5, 2025, her Birkin Voyageur, a 2003 gift from Hermès with a handwritten note inside calling it her globetrotting companion, sold at Sotheby's Abu Dhabi for $2.86 million ⁶⁷.

1. "Jane Birkin On The Hermès Birkin: How Fashion's Most Iconic Handbag Was First Sketched On A Sickbag". Vogue Scandinavia (Luke Leitch). July 22, 2023 · Read the source
2. "The Original Birkin Bag Was Made After Actress Jane Birkin Spilled Her Belongings on the CEO of Hermès in 1983". Smithsonian Magazine (Eli Wizevich). June 11, 2025 · Read the source
3. "7 Secret Details About Jane Birkin's Original Birkin Revealed". Sotheby's (Morgane Halimi). July 10, 2025 · Read the source
4. "Jane Birkin's Original Birkin Bags". Sotheby's (Morgane Halimi). December 9, 2025 · Read the source
5. "Original Hermès Birkin owned by actress it's named after sells for record $10 MILLION". Guinness World Records (Vicki Newman). September 3, 2026 · Read the source
6. "UAE: Original Hermes Birkin bag auctioned for $2.86 million in Abu Dhabi" (AFP). Khaleej Times. December 5, 2025 · Read the source
7. "Another original Hermes Birkin bag sells for 2.86 million dollars" (Rachel Douglass, with AFP). FashionUnited. December 8, 2025 (date read from the URL; not printed in the page text) · Read the source

Grace Kelly

The Kelly bag carries her name.

In Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), costume designer Edith Head gave Grace Kelly's character a Hermès bag then known as the Sac à dépêches. Kelly took to it at once ². After she became Princess of Monaco in 1956, photographs of her carrying the bag ran in Life magazine and sent shoppers to Hermès boutiques ¹². The public began calling it the Kelly. Hermès made the name official in her honor in 1977 ¹². The design itself is older: Harper's Bazaar traces it to the 1930s as a travel bag ².

1. "Anatomy of an Artwork: A Style Icon". Sotheby's. April 11, 2022 · Read the source
2. "Explore the History Of The Hermès Kelly". Harper's Bazaar Malaysia (Kaavya Ravindran). June 7, 2024 · Read the source

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Her visibility helped make the Constance one of the house's best-known bags.

Hermès introduced the Constance in 1959, designed by Catherine Chaillet of the house's design studio ¹². Jacqueline Kennedy was frequently photographed carrying it during the 1960s, the decade in which Sotheby's says the bag gained international recognition ¹. Sotheby's counts her visibility among the main reasons for the Constance's rise ².

1. "The Timeless Versatility of the Hermès Constance". Sotheby's (Vanessa Wat). July 21, 2026 · Read the source
2. "All About the Hermès Constance". Sotheby's (Vanessa Wat). May 12, 2026 · Read the source

Kim Kardashian

One of the most visible Birkin collectors of the social media era.

W Magazine reported in 2020 that she owns more than 30 Birkins ¹. One of the best known is a Birkin hand-painted by the artist George Condo, which she first shared on Instagram the day after Christmas 2013 and carried again in Paris in 2020 after six years out of view ¹. For her 45th birthday in October 2025, she showed on TikTok a red crocodile Shoulder Birkin designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and a dark beige crocodile Kelly Cut, People reported ².

1. "Kim Kardashian Proves That Birkin Bags Are Not Single Use". W Magazine (Steph Eckardt). March 3, 2020 · Read the source
2. "Kim Kardashian Posts 6-Figure Unboxing of Her Hermès Birthday Presents, Including Rare Birkin, from Mom Kris Jenner". People (Michelle Lee), via AOL syndication. October 27, 2025 · Read the source

Kris Jenner

She built a closet around her Birkins and often gives Hermès bags as gifts.

In August 2016 Kris Jenner unveiled a closet built around a multi-shelved wall of Birkins, first seen on Kylie Jenner's Snapchat ¹. The wall was designed with Los Angeles artist Beau Dunn, whose hot pink neon sign reading "Need Money For Birkin" glows above the bags ¹. In October 2025, People reported that she gave Kim Kardashian a rare red crocodile Shoulder Birkin designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and a crocodile Kelly Cut for her birthday, after giving Kylie Jenner a Birkin of the same design in a darker colorway ².

1. "Meet The LA Artist Behind Kris Jenner's New Birkin Closet". Harper's Bazaar Singapore (originally Harper's Bazaar US). August 13, 2016 · Read the source
2. "Kim Kardashian Posts 6-Figure Unboxing of Her Hermès Birthday Presents, Including Rare Birkin, from Mom Kris Jenner". People (Michelle Lee), via AOL syndication. October 27, 2025 · Read the source

Kylie Jenner

Her 2018 purse closet tour showed a young collector's Hermès shelf in detail.

In August 2018 she published a video tour of the room where she keeps her purses, titled "My Purse Closet Tour" ¹². She called the Hermès row her favorite and said she had been collecting the bags for some time ¹². Among them she singled out a Dalmatian-print Hermès as the most unusual piece she owns ². In August 2022, W Magazine reported that she shared a TikTok of a tri-color Birkin received for her 25th birthday, saying only three had been made ³.

1. "Kylie Jenner Shows Off Insane Purse Closet: Take a Look Inside". Entertainment Tonight (Liz Calvario and Amy Lee). August 15, 2018 · Read the source
2. "Kylie Jenner Just Shared A Tour Of Her Jaw-Dropping Purse Closet". Harper's Bazaar Singapore (originally Harper's Bazaar US). August 17, 2018 · Read the source
3. "Kylie Jenner Got A Rare $100k Birkin For Her Birthday" (Aimée Lutkin). W Magazine. August 12, 2022 · Read the source

Kendall Jenner

She speaks for a quieter way of collecting, with older pieces that show their wear.

In a Vogue closet tour published on February 26, 2026, Kendall Jenner showed her Hermès bags, including a brown suede Birkin she bought herself for her 30th birthday and called her dream bag ¹. She said she is selective about the Hermès bags she keeps and prefers older ones ¹. Lifting a red leather Kelly from a shelf, she pointed to its scuffs, scratches and softened corners as the very things that make it beautiful to her ¹.

1. "Kendall Jenner Says Her Family Gives Her 'Side-Eye' Over Her Outfit Choices". People (Catherine Santino), via AOL syndication. February 27, 2026 · Read the source

Jennifer Lopez

She carries her Birkins everywhere, from red carpets to the gym.

W Magazine dates her first public Birkin moment to 2008, when she carried a cognac crocodile Birkin in Milan ¹. Its 2023 pictorial history documents white, red crocodile, black, grey, green, mint green and brown rawhide Birkins, along with a bright yellow Kelly and a wicker Osier Kelly ¹. W describes a Himalaya crocodile Birkin as one of the rarest pieces she has carried ¹. She also uses them every day: in February 2023 she was photographed heading to the gym in Los Angeles with a black Birkin with gold hardware ².

1. "A Pictorial History of Jennifer Lopez's Extensive Birkin Collection". W Magazine (Kyle Munzenrieder). August 9, 2023 · Read the source
2. "Jennifer Lopez Heads To The Gym In A Sky Blue Monochrome Look And A Birkin". Harper's Bazaar Singapore (Rosa Sanchez). February 10, 2023 · Read the source

Cardi B

She shares her Birkin collection openly and has spoken about who gets to carry one.

In July 2021 she posted a photo on Instagram showing at least 26 Birkins, which Complex noted may be only part of her collection ¹². W Magazine described designs ranging from camouflage and bandana prints to crocodile and python ¹. Her newest piece at the time was a large camel Birkin styled like cargo pants, with side pockets and an attached small satchel ¹. She also pushed back publicly on questions about whether female rappers can buy bags at Hermès ¹.

1. "Cardi B Casually Shows Off Her 26 Birkin Bags On A Table" (Meagan Fredette). W Magazine. July 21, 2021 · Read the source
2. "Cardi B Shares Look at Massive Collection of Hermès Birkin Bags" (Trace William Cowen). Complex. July 22, 2021 · Read the source

Drake

One of the best-known men to speak openly about collecting Birkins.

In a 2017 cover interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Drake said he had been collecting Hermès Birkin bags for years ¹². He described the collection as a gift for the future, not something for his own use ¹². W Magazine quoted him calling it "a fairly vast collection of Hermès" ¹.

1. "Drake Has Been Collecting Hermès Birkin Bags for His Future Wife" (Brooke Marine). W Magazine. November 8, 2017 · Read the source
2. "Drake Has Been Collecting Birkin Bags for Years for His Future Wife". Harper's Bazaar Singapore (originally Harper's Bazaar US). November 9, 2017 · Read the source

Pharrell Williams

His bright, oversized Birkins of the 2000s are part of the story of men carrying the bag.

W Magazine wrote in 2017 that he famously carried bright Birkin bags around town ¹. Its history of the men's bag shows him in New York in 2007 with an extra-large purple Birkin ². W places him among the hip-hop artists drawn to Goyard and Birkin bags ².

1. "The Many Phases of Pharrell Williams" (Sue Williamson). W Magazine. April 5, 2017 · Read the source
2. "Are Chanel Purses the Next Big Man Bag? A Brief History of the Murse" (Emilia Petrarca). W Magazine. January 4, 2017 · Read the source

Two auctions that made history

On July 10, 2025, Sotheby's Paris sold Jane Birkin's own prototype, made for her in 1985, for €8,582,500 (about $10.1 million). Guinness World Records lists it as the most expensive handbag sold at auction.³⁵ She had given that bag to a 1994 charity auction for Association Solidarité Sida.³ On December 5, 2025, her Birkin Voyageur, a 2003 gift from Hermès, sold at Sotheby's Abu Dhabi for $2.86 million.⁶⁷

Sources are listed under Jane Birkin above.