The craze for the Hermes Birkin bag seems to be unremitting, with people resorting to crime to get their hands on the high-end handbags. Florida man Eduardo Travieso Garcia burgled the Maison Wrist Aficionado store at Miami Beach’s Setai Hotel and fled with no fewer than sixty Hermes Birkin bags worth a whopping $1.8 million. With an accomplice, the 45-year-old broke into the store and stuffed the opulent accessories into huge gray garbage bins packed to the brim with Birkins. It indeed could be a fashionista’s dream except for the dustbin part. The men were then seen on camera running away with the bins in two separate vehicles, one of which was also stolen.
It was the security manager of the luxury hotel who alerted officials that the two men stole nearly 60 Hermes Birkins, valued at more than $1.8 million, per NBC Miami. Hermes Birkins start at $10,000 and sell for millions depending on the leather, hardware, etc.
The most expensive Birkin is the Sac Bijou Birkin worth $2 million. Nita Ambani owns the rare $400,000 Neige Faubourg Birkin 20 White Matte Alligator handbag, while the Kardashians have closets full of the coveted handbags. Ironically, it is the French luxury fashion house that somehow plays a strong role in the unfortunate incidents.
The 186-year-old maison has created such a frenzy around the Birkin, making it difficult to acquire unless you have a shopping history amounting to thousands of dollars. Then and only then, you may be lucky enough to see the holy grail of handbags which will land in your lap only after the sales executive approves of you. Simply affording the precious bag will never be enough, which makes it an exorbitant status symbol.
Women all over the world desire to own the Hermes Birkin or Kelly handbag, and criminals know of this. Moreover, even bags that retail for around $10,000 resell for $20,000-$35,000, which makes them a lucrative investment or a wonderful object to steal.
Garcia could not pull off this million-dollar handbag heist as officers tracked his vehicle. He provided a full confession and was booked into jail. In 2015, thieves broke into an upscale Melbourne home and stole a $1 million handbag collection comprising 30 bags, some of which were made of crocodile skin, while others were ostrich. During Christmas 2018, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards’ entire Birkin collection was robbed. Even American socialite Paris Hilton was the target of a notorious group of thieves called the Bling Ring, who stole all her Birkins among other things.
