Jane Birkin: A Deep Dive into the French It-Girl’s Life and Career
An icon of the 20th century—actress, singer, and fashion inspiration Jane Birkin is the quintessential French it-girl. Though she was born and raised in England, Birkin is a staple of historical French culture. Her apparently easy-going and glamorous life in France during the 1960s and 1970s has become the life goal of many people across the world.
Life Story
Jane Birkin was born on December 14, 1946, to a wealthy British family. Her mother was a stage actress, and her father was a spy during World War ll.
In her youth, Birkin was dubbed a “shy English girl.” However, when she was only 17, she received a role in a musical composed by John Barry, known for composing a multitude of James Bond films. The two fell in love and married a year later when Jane was 18, and he was 31. They had a child but divorced a few years later, in 1968. At this point, Birkin had boosted her acting career in England by appearing in films such as The Knack…, How to Get It, and Blow-Up. However, Birkin felt her life was falling apart because her ex-husband cheated on her and left her with their child. As a result, she fled to France, looking for a job and a fresh beginning. Luckily, she secured a role in a romance/drama named Slogan, according to Far Out Magazine. During this time, she met Serge Gainsbourg, the man who would be associated with Birkin from then on as they got involved in a whirlwind romance that lasted more than a decade.
Birkin and Gainsbourg are one of the 20th century’s most famous celebrity couples. Especially because they had a 20-year age gap, a musical partnership, and a wild lifestyle that made for fascinating stories. According to Birkin, they “went out at night and came home to wake up [their daughters] before school, and then slept in the daytime.” Their lifestyle became a symbol of liberation in pop culture at a time when conservative ideologies held ground. She says that Gainsbourg always referred to the two as an “amoral couple” rather than an immoral one.
As Jane’s acting career took off in France, she began to get involved in the music industry. She became infamous for her song “Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus,” a risque and sexually explicit duet written by Gainsbourg that was originally sung with Brigitte Bardot. However, Jane’s version skyrocketed to the top of the charts despite being banned in numerous countries. The overall response to the song solidified Birkin’s celebrity status.
Jane says she learned French “off a tape recorder and from what Serge [Gainsbourg] would teach me, which was slang,” and that many French people would make fun of her due to her heavy English accent, according to The Guardian. She and Gainsbourg parted ways in 1980 due to his bad drinking habits, though they remained close friends until he died in 1991.
The Birkin Bag
The famous Hermés Birkin bag was born out of necessity. In 1984, Jane Birkin was on a flight to London from Paris. She had brought her iconic wicker basket—where she would store everything from groceries to baby products. As she attempted to place it in the compartment above her seat, its lid fell off, and her items spilled all over the plane, according to Business Insider. Birkin happened to be “sitting next to Jean-Louis Dumas, Executive Chairman of Hermès (1978-2006) [and complained] that she couldn’t find a bag suitable for her needs as a young mother.” Dumas and Birkin drew up a design for the ideal bag during their flight: a purse with flexibility, enough room for a mother to comfortably store her items, and a classy, tasteful look. Birkin graciously accepted Dumas’ request to name the bag after her.
Since the 1990s, the Birkin has become a symbol of utmost status in high society. The cost to own one range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is because the bags are handmade from rare animal skin and are highly exclusive. Birkins cannot be bought in-store; only people of high importance are offered the chance to purchase one. Many look towards Birkin bags as an investment. Hermés limits how many can be sold to one person and keep the number of bags produced each year a secret (though Business Insider states there are likely about 200,000 in the market).
The Birkin bag was custom-made for Jane at a time when she needed a way to transport her baby-care materials as a young mother. However, she has recently stated that she no longer carries the bag. She finds it always fills up with too many things, making it extremely heavy, and prefers to “fill [her] pockets like a man” so she doesn’t have to bring anything else with her when leaving the house.
Jane doesn’t particularly like being associated with a bag representing such superficiality and ostentatiousness. Still, she has utilized the funds she and Hermés receive from the bags to donate to various charities, including human rights group Amnesty International, health care organization Doctors of the World, the Japanese Red Cross, and others.
Legacy
Jane Birkin has appeared in more than 70 movies and released about 20 albums, all while becoming an idol in the fashion and modeling industries.
In modern times, Birkin has been recognized for her casual yet classy taste in fashion and French girl lifestyle. On social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, many adore her sense of style in movie roles, photoshoots, and candid paparazzi photos. In the ’60s and ’70s, Birkin’s wardrobe largely revolved around jeans, plain tops, micro mini dresses, and skirts paired with knee-high tights or boots.
Birkin is perhaps most recognized in the fashion world for her iconic accessory—the wicker basket—which can be seen in her hand in almost every candid photo of her roaming the streets of France. However, Birkin’s boyfriend, Jacques Doillon, thought it distasteful to associate Jane’s entire life and livelihood with a basket. Birkin says he told her, “It’s terrible for you to be known for your object,” and ran one of her baskets over to fully make his point (Harper’s Bazaar).
Here are some of my favorites of Jane’s looks, casual and iconic:
Image Courtesy: Tony Frank
Image Courtesy: Bentley Archive/Popperfoto Vogue
Image Courtesy: A CROLLALANZA/REX USA
Image Courtesy: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo
Image Courtesy: Gilles Caron
Today, Birkin continues to model, act, and create music, remaining an inspiration in various industries and among all kinds of pop culture enthusiasts.
Strike Out,
Parmis Etezady
Boca Raton
Parmis Etezady is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine Boca. In her free time, she likes to collect records, go to rock concerts (or blast music in her bedroom), and obsess over vintage fashion. You can reach her at petezady@gmail.com.
