Almost everyone is a fan of the Hermès Birkin bag—except Jane Birkin. The British star recently asked the luxury label to remove her name from their iconic bag after reports surfaced that the house was using crocodile skin that was inhumanely harvested to create the handbags.
"Having been alerted to the cruel practices reserved for crocodiles during their slaughter to make Hermès handbags carrying my name...I have asked Hermès to de-baptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place," Birkin said in a statement.
This comes after Peta released undercover images and video (warning: extremely graphic) of allegedly Hermès-sourced crocodile farms mistreating animals by stabbing still-conscious reptiles, shooting them, and hanging them in a “bleed rack” when they are still moving.
The only problem is this tannery many not actually be connected to the luxury brand at all. “Hermès respects and shares [Birkin’s] emotions and was also shocked by the images recently broadcast,” the brand said in a statement. “An investigation is underway at the Texas farm which was implicated in the video. Hermès specifies that this farm does not belong to them and that the crocodile skins supplied are not used for the fabrication of Birkin bags.”
Considering the ridiculously high standards of quality the brand places on their leather we’re actually inclined to believe Hermès on this one. As the unethical treatment would directly result in poor quality hides, it’s unlikely the brand has any connections to the farm. We’ll have to reserve judgement until the investigations are complete, but in the meantime it doesn’t look like Hermès will remove the Birkin name from their bestselling bag.
