A Hermès handbag is only worthy when you somehow get it from the unyielding clutches of its cold-blooded staff? Well, undoubtedly, there is a sweet relief in that, after one has to go through endless years of waiting, a shopping cart full of Hermès accessories you perhaps did not even want in the first place, dealing with icy-cold SAs, and perhaps even getting your address vetted for a seal of approval from the Hermès class society. After all this, imagine you are power-walking down a New York street and come across a Hermès handbag, the Birkin no less, perched nonchalantly atop a dustbin on a busy street in front of the Hermès store. Do you stop in your tracks, drop your jaw, and claim the prize? Or do you keep walking, convinced it’s a fake because, in no universe, would a $30,000 asset be treated like a discarded coffee cup?
You would straight up assume it is a fake, right? Perhaps stylish New Yorkers can decipher a fake and an authentic Hermès Birkin even while trotting down a busy street on a busy morning. They can simply scan the bag’s genuineness from afar, which is why a video posted on Instagram by Sellier Knightsbridge, a reseller of luxury goods. This wasn’t just any Birkin; it was a limited-edition two-tone combination of Toile H canvas and Chai Swift leather with palladium hardware. Despite its double top handles, iconic twist-lock, and gleaming protective feet, the bag didn’t budge.
The Hermes Birkin retails for $15,000 and can sell for up to $30,000 in the secondary market, which was all the more reason why someone should have snatched this lottery ticket in a minute. But I guess the world is changing. People are aware of cameras, tricks, and the frenzy of social media that has made many such videos in the past. New York isn’t Zurich, where a Rolex left on a cafe table remains untouched out of cultural honesty. The world is convinced Hermès can never come this easy, so it has got to be a fake.
