The Ultimate It Bag

Tina Craig, owner of one of the country’s most extensive collections of Hermès Birkin bags, confesses her secrets.

- Tina Craig

THE HERMÈS BIRKIN BAG IS A DRUG like no other. Perhaps it’s the intoxicating scent of the leathers. Perhaps it’s the brand ’s heritage, a family business dating to the early 1800s. Or perhaps it’s because the Birkin can be obscenely difficult to obtain (new), which is no accident, since Hermès controls the number sold. I have seen the most successful of men grovel at the chance of acquiring one for their wives and the most reasonable of women act like full-fledged lunatics in order to procure one. “We live in a world where so much of fashion seems disposable,” says Cameron Silver, the founder of Decades, the vintage designer boutique frequented by celebrities and VIPs in Los Angeles, and H Halston’s fashion director. “The Birkin has endured as an investment that’s built to last a lifetime.