Fashion’s Romantic Icon
Sure, Jane Birkin has the GOAT of all handbags named after her—but that’s just a minor blip in an extraordinary life that was as daring and unconventional as her style.
1. She Was An Untamed Spirit
The connection between Jane Birkin and the infamous Hermès Birkin bag might be a bit of a head-scratcher at first. In one corner we have a pricy purse with mile-long waiting lists, and in the other, we have a Swinging Sixties bohemian.
Both are iconic, but only one was a singer-actress-influencer who lived a life brimming with head-spinning amounts of heartbreak, scandal, and loss.
Roland Godefroy, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
2. She Was Glam From The Get-Go
Post-WWII Britain was probably one of the world’s least glitzy places, but on December 14, 1946, Jane Birkin’s birth brought some joy to the posh corner of London where her parents lived. Her childhood, which was split between the cultured streets of Chelsea and the serene landscapes of the Isle of Wight, was anything but ordinary.
3. She Was A Poor Little Rich Girl
Despite the enchanting settings, young Jane often felt out of place. As a shy, gap-toothed tomboy, she had trouble fitting in at her swanky boarding school. Classmates called her “half boy, half girl…It was horrible”. Luckily, with a high-ranking father in the Royal Navy and an acclaimed actress mother, Birkin was well-positioned to carve out a very unique life path.
4. She Was A Bit Of A Nepo Baby
Surrounded by the lights of the London stage and the drama of her father’s war stories not only gave Jane Birkin a taste for adventure, but it also gave her a foot in the stage door. At the age of 16, she captivated audiences in her first big role as a deaf-mute opposite Ralph Richardson, one of the leading actors of the time.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, this would be the first of many of Birkin’s, um, gutsy life choices…
5. She Loved Love
We all know that child actors grow up quickly—but Jane Birkin took it to the next level. At the age of 17, she met successful composer John Barry and married him in a secret wedding when she was 18 and he was 31.
The dazzling couple was the talk of swinging mid-60s London, but Birkin was already starting to deal with some demons.
6. She Felt Unpretty
Oh, to be young and beautiful while living in the coolest city in the world (according to Time). Unfortunately, Jane Birkin could not shake the past.
On top of developing a sleeping pill habit at 16, she was so insecure and scarred by her childhood tormentors that she kept makeup under her pillow in case her husband woke up and saw her “tiny piggy eyes”.
Some might say that her desire to please her husband may have gone too far…
7. She Had The Look
It may sound creepy now, but the 1960s “London look” was one of wide-eyed, childish innocence. Jane Birkin fit the bill so perfectly that she earned a small role as a model in the much-anticipated Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-Up.
It was definitely a thrilling opportunity, but when Birkin’s husband learned that his wife would need to bare it all for the role, he wasn’t exactly thrilled.
8. She Made An Eye-Popping Career Move
Jane’s husband might have been using a bit of reverse psychology when he declared that she wouldn’t have the courage to take it all off for Blow-Up. She responded to this by thinking, “Well, I’ll do it and that will thrill him”. British moviegoers ended up getting their first glimpse of hair down there—and Birkin was thrust into the spotlight as a fearless symbol of the free-love era.
Just as Birkin’s career was “blowing up,” her personal life began to implode.
9. She Was Not Built To Be A SAHM
Jane Birkin was pregnant when Blow-Up hit theaters, and as the controversy and acclaim swirled, her rising stardom contrasted starkly with domestic life. Always eager to please her man, she tried to embrace her role as a housewife.
One hitch: Birkin was not cool with the long, lonely evenings spent waiting for her hubs to return from his wild nights without her.
In April 1967, their daughter, Kate, was born. In the summer of that same year, the couple took separate vacations.
10. He Hit Her Where It Hurt
We all get post-vacation blues, but what Jane Birkin experienced was so, so much worse.
When she got home from her trip, her husband told her that the marriage was over. To make matters even more heart-wrenching, their daughter was only a few months old and it came to light that Birkin’s husband had been having an affair with one of Birkin’s friends.
Birkin was suddenly a single mom.
Pelo magazine, Wikimedia Commons
11. She Crossed The Rubicon, Er, Channel
At the age when most people are just figuring life out, Birkin had to grow up—fast. Freshly divorced and only 21 years old, which was the age of consent at the time, Birkin told her newly hired nanny to pack up Kate’s things, as they were moving to France. Birkin didn’t think it was necessary to learn French or work on her issues first…what could go wrong?
12. She Was Not Single For Long
It’s not surprising that Jane Birkin found love shortly after moving to one of the world’s most romantic places. Nor is it surprising that hot off the success of Blow-Up, she easily found an acting job. What is a bit unconventional is how both of these developments intertwined. And speaking of unconventional, her new amor was a notorious bad boy—er, man.
13. Her New Job Was Not Off To A Good Start
As with the best rom-com meet-cutes, tensions flared when Birkin, 21, first met her co-star Serge Gainsbourg, 36, on the set of the 1968 film Slogan. Right before filming, Gainsbourg freaked out at Birkin’s lack of French skills and she did her best to convince him that she was up for the task. Gainsbourg even told a pal that he felt zero desire for Birkin when their eyes first met.
Did Gainsbourg protest too much?
14. She Was Star-Crossed
Language barriers be darned! While filming Slogan, Birkin and Gainsbourg started to engage in halting off-camera convos and she could sense that her odd-looking but highly charismatic co-star was slowly softening toward her. Suddenly, whenever she was around him, she would literally tremble with pent-up desire.
This passion wouldn’t stay pent up for long.
15. Her Beau Was A Serious Womanizer
To quote the great Selena Gomez, the heart wants what it wants, and this sentiment certainly applies to Jane Birkin. After a wild night of clubbing in Paris, she and Gainsbourg decided to go to a hotel—but Birkin was in for a surprise. First, the receptionist said, “Your usual room, Mr. Gainsbourg”? Yikes!
Then, to make matters worse, our Don Juan passed out before he could make his move.
Cue the sad horn and, perplexingly, the night Birkin says she fell in love.
16. She Put Herself (Way) Out There
At the 1969 premiere of Slogan, Jane Birkin grabbed headlines—but not because of her acting skills. Always stylish, she appeared on the arm of Gainsbourg, wearing a simple long-sleeved minidress and carrying her eccentric basket purse. As the flashbulbs popped, people’s jaws dropped. Her dress was totally see-through!
Birkin later cheekily pled innocence saying, “If I had known, I would not [have] put knickers on”!
17. She Was All-In
Red flags can be hard to see when you’re starry-eyed, oui? That said, Jane Birkin must have felt a big boost to her self-esteem knowing that she had snagged the ex-lover of famed femme fatale Brigitte Bardot. To make matters more enchanting, now that Slogan was complete, Gainsbourg, also an accomplished singer-songwriter, had some seductive plans brewing…
Epoche Archive, Wikimedia Commons
18. She Was Prolific In PDA
Birkin and Gainsbourg were crazy in love and they didn’t care who knew it—or saw it. Their constant canoodling and public passion were becoming quite commonplace.
But in a photo shoot for Lui magazine, they took it to a scandalous new level. Birkin posed undressed and chained to a radiator. The resulting scandal prompted Gainsbourg to say, “I am not ashamed to show my wife naked”.
Brace yourself…the pearl-clutching is about to reach a fever pitch.
19. She Didn’t Mind Sloppy Seconds
It is fitting that the pivotal point of Jane Birkin’s career occurred in the year of our Lord 1969. It also reminds us of how eager to please Birkin was.
Case in point: She agreed to re-record a sultry song, “Je t’aime... moi non plus,” that Gainsbourg had written for his ex Brigitte Bardot. Birkin admitted the song’s content “made you go a bit sweaty under the collar”.
Not to mention, there was Birkin and Gainsbourg’s mind-blowing delivery…
20. She Recorded A Dirty Ditty
Cover your children’s ears! Some of the song’s lyrics include such gems as “I go and come between your loins” but the real shocker was the heavy breathing and how it seemed to escalate right at the song’s, ahem, peak. In fact, Birkin’s performance is so realistic, that many folks thought that Birkin and Gainsbourg were actually getting busy while recording.
21. She Was At The Heart Of A Scandal
Even though the naughty song debuted during the free-love era, it still caused quite a frenzy. The BBC and other stations banned it—and even the Vatican weighed in! It didn’t catch on in the US, however, only making it to #69 on the Hot 100. It’s no wonder Birkin and Gainsbourg became known as “The Sonny and Cher of eroticism”.
It was a key moment in Birkin’s life, but definitely not her last brush with controversy.
22. She Was Skittish
Birkin and Gainsbourg were in the midst of a hot and heavy love affair for the ages, so why ruin it with marriage, right?
Birkin was understandably averse to returning to the role of housewife, and the shackles of marriage 100% did not groove with the couple’s bohemian vibe. At one point, Birkin even confessed that she had a “secret fear that marriage changed things”.
Do you know what else changes things?
A visit from Mr. Stork.
23. She Catered To Her Male’s Gaze
The Swinging Sixties may have wound down, but Gainsbourg and Birkin’s glitzy lifestyle showed no signs of stopping—even after they welcomed their daughter, Charlotte, into the world in 1971. But she didn’t let it get in the way of her love life, as she explain in a shocking confession: “If he had seen me giving birth to Charlotte, it’s possible he never would have slept with me again, and I wasn’t taking that chance”. Eesh.
Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
24. She Burned The Candle At Both Ends
Who says a baby has to put a damper on your hedonistic ways? Not Birkin and Gainsbourg. They get an A+ in parental logistics for this schedule: Rise at 3:00 pm, get kids from school, take them to the park, give them dinner, and get the au pair to bathe them.
Kiss kids goodnight, party till dawn, drop them off at school, and then sleep until 3:00 pm—rinse and repeat daily.
Impressive…but how long could they keep it up?
Olivier Pacteau, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
25. She Said, Yes, Yes, Yes!
After taking a break (from working, at least), Jane Birkin returned to the movies with a splash and sent tongues wagging as Brigitte Bardot’s lover in the 1973 film Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were A Woman. “I accepted immediately just to be in bed with Bardot,” Birkin said. “She’s the most utterly perfect woman. There's not a fault.
God knows, I looked”.
Reporters Associati & Archivi, Wikimedia Commons
26. She Fought Back
Many celebrity couples do their best to keep up appearances and keep their relationship drama hidden behind closed doors. Not Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. On one explosive, inebriated evening, Gainsbourg dumped the contents of Birkin’s wicker purse all over the floor of a nightclub. Her reaction was unforgettable.
She flew into a rage, somehow found a custard pie, and threw it in his face. He stormed out of the club, leaving a sea of stunned spectators in his wake. And then…Birkin followed him out into the street.
27. She Loved A Grand Gesture
As Gainsbourg stormed through the City of Lights, Birkin came up from behind, passed right by him, and, when she was sure he could see her, she jumped into the Seine River.
Someone called the fire department to fish her out of the water. Her beau was so glad she was alive that all was forgiven and they walked home arm-in-arm. C’est la vie.
28. She Was Pushed Too Far
Gainsbourg was France’s most-loved entertainer and Birkin was his beautiful, free-spirited muse. Sure, he smoked like a chimney, had a drinking problem, and was a bit odd and unkempt, but that’s why he was so captivating…until he wasn’t. During one recording session, he screamed at Birkin and hit her with a ruler when she couldn’t hit the right notes.
Gainsbourg’s angry outbursts became harder and harder to overlook—even for the extremely accommodating Jane.
29. She Rubbed Salt Into His Wounds
How do you say, “It’s over” in French? Birkin shocked and enraged Gainsbourg when she broke up with him—but then she added insult to injury. She told him she was leaving him for someone else.
According to Birkin, “When I left him, I remember him crying out ‘He’ll turn you into a nobody’ [about Birkin’s new partner, film director Jacques Doillon]. I think he believed it, and that he had made me”.
30. She Kept Him Around
As with many great loves, goodbye did not mean goodbye forever.
In fact, their bond was so deep that when Birkin and her new man, Doillon, welcomed a daughter, Gainsbourg sent a gift for the new baby, signing it “Papa Deux”. Although Birkin admitted Gainsbourg was hard to live with, she also said she was proud of the relationship.
But there is one Gainsbourg-related item that we definitely should file away forever…
31. She Had The Secret Sauce
If you look up the expression je ne sais quoi, Jane Birkin’s photo should be there because she epitomized it. She was beautiful, talented, and had an aesthetic all her own. Who else could get away with carrying a giant fisherman’s basket as a purse whether she was at a glitzy club or a pro-choice demonstration? Unfortunately, by the early 80s, the ubiquitous basket’s days were numbered.
32. Fate Had Her Back
It’s almost funny how a minor mishap can change the course of fashion history—and, again, Birkin was at the center of it all. Picture gorgeous jet-setting Jane smiling at the stranger beside her as she placed her iconic basket in the airplane’s overhead compartment. She was likely just about to settle in for a long flight when disaster suddenly struck…
33. She Learned A Lesson About Form Vs. Function
Without warning, the entire contents of Birkin’s basket fell to the floor in a humiliating heap. As she crawled around on the floor, she fumed to the man beside her that it was hard to find a good bag that held everything.
The moment changed fashion history. The man ended up being Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas. Right then and there, the two started brainstorming the perfect bag.
Even though this happened 40+ years ago, the Hermès Birkin, which starts at $10K, is still one of the world’s most coveted status symbols.
34. She Couldn’t Let Gainsbourg Go
Did you think you’d heard the last of Birkin’s great love, Serge Gainsbourg? Hardly.
Even though they had both found new partners, the two would often meet for dinner and “a chat on a bench like old people”. Birkin loved it when he would knock on her door in the middle of the night seeking relationship advice and her home cooking.
Considering what happened in their little family in the 1980s, it’s surprising that she wanted anything to do with them.
35. She Let Her Daughter Do Some Questionable Things
The year 1984 has ominous connotations for various reasons—and here’s another to add to the list. Although Gainsbourg and Birkin were no longer together then, Birkin allowed the couple’s 12-year-old daughter Charlotte to record music with Gainsbourg. It should have been a cute little project, right?
Nope. It was oh-so-very-wrong—on so many levels.
36. Her Daughter’s Dad Didn’t Know Best
If Gainsbourg wanted to top the controversy he created with “Je t’aime... moi non plus,” he succeeded with his duet with young Charlotte. The song’s two word title was “Lemon” and a second word that rhymes with “and zest”. It was about an inappropriate relationship between a father and a daughter.
The video, which showed father and daughter half-clothed on a large bed, was even more horrifying.
It’s no surprise that the song and video created a massive scandal. What is a surprise is that no one canceled Gainsbourg.
37. She Would Have To Face The Music
Knowing that Serge Gainsbourg had a serious drinking problem and a five-pack-a-day habit, makes it seem like almost an accomplishment that he lived to the ripe age of 62. On March 2, 1991, he succumbed to a heart attack. All of France went into mourning, understandably, but what the women closest to him did next was not all that normal…
38. She Couldn’t Say Goodbye
After Gainsbourg breathed his last breath, his body ended up staying in his bedroom for four days while the women closest to him—Jane Birkin, her daughters Charlotte and Kate, and his girlfriend at the time—surrounded him, trying to come to grips with his passing. At one point Birkin stepped out to call someone who could preserve the body because Charlotte wasn’t ready to bury him.
Sadly, just four days later, life threw another cruel twist of fate Birkin’s way…
39. She Was Wrecked
Just when Jane Birkin didn’t think her life could get worse, another tragedy struck. Her father passed.
In less than a week, the two most important men in her life were suddenly gone. “My world was thrown into chaos, silence, and darkness,” she said. “Serge is [gone]. Impossible...everything feels blurry, yet sharply like a nightmare”.
She may have been Gainsbourg’s former muse, but losing him did not make the public, especially the French, any less fascinated with all things Jane Birkin.
40. Her Heart Would Go On
Serge Gainsbourg no longer walked the earth, but he still had a huge hold over Birkin.
Not only would she continue to perform and record his songs, but her grief for Gainsbourg was so deep-seated that Jacques Doillon, the man she left Gainsbourg for, couldn’t take it. The pair separated in 1993, after 13 years together.
She had one daughter with Doillon, one with Gainsbourg, and one with Barry, her first husband.
41. Her Icon Status Was Official
It says a lot about Birkin’s appeal that despite (or maybe because of)? her many scandals and wild lifestyle, the French loved her. So much so that in 1998 they gave her the Ordre National du Mérite for her achievements in music and film (she recorded over 20 albums and acted in more than 65 films) as well as for her contribution to Anglo-French relations.
You know how some people joke that a lifetime achievement award means their time is almost over?
42. She Fought For Her Life
By the time Birkin was in her 50s, she’d been through a lot, but in 2002, her resilience was put to the ultimate test when she heard three heartbreaking words: “You’ve got leukemia”. In one sense, she was lucky because it was the treatable kind. However, the treatment involved steroids, which caused the always-svelte actress to pack on the pounds for the first time in her life.
To make matters worse, her health woes were far from over…
43. Her Battle Intensified
Just when she thought she was out of the woods, she found out that the treatment for her first bout of leukemia brought on another variant of the disease. She must have inherited some of her father’s moxie, though, because despite enduring grueling, red-blood-cell-destroying treatments three times a week, she came out on top…for a while, at least.
44. Her First Daughter Was Troubled
In 2013, Birkin’s daughter Kate from her first marriage to composer John Barry, made headlines for all the wrong reasons. From a young age, Kate had struggled with substances, which is not surprising considering Gainsbourg raised her.
Nevertheless, she seemed to get back on track by attending rehab, establishing a career as a photographer, and even setting up a treatment center for addicts.
Everyone who knew her thought the bad days were behind her. They were so very wrong.
45. Tragedy Found Her Yet Again
Just when it looked as though Kate was getting a fresh start in life, tragedy struck.
On December 11, 2013, just a few days before Jane turned 67, she collapsed after she learned that 46-year-old Kate had perished after jumping off the balcony of her fourth-floor apartment and falling more than 80 feet.
46. She Experienced A Mother’s Worst Nightmare
No one else had been in the apartment with Kate (other than her three dogs, three cats, and a parrot) and there were no signs of a break-in, so the authorities ruled out foul play.
And, although Kate’s half-sister Charlotte strongly believed that it was an accident, Jane eventually came to terms with the fact that Kate, who had struggled with depression, had potentially taken her own life.
47. She Cried Crocodile Tears
Devastated by the loss of her daughter Kate, Jane Birkin tried to channel her profound grief into social activism.
In 2015, she had a big bone to pick with Hermès. She asked the fashion house to remove her name from the crocodile version of the Birkin bag because the farms that supplied the hides treated the animals cruelly. Brace yourself…
48. She Spoke Out
It is admirable that Birkin stood up to the luxury goods company over the brutal treatment of the crocodiles—because the details were horrifying. According to PETA, the farmers crammed the animals into stark concrete pits and “crudely cut into them while they were still conscious and able to feel pain”. Crikey!
Birkin asked Hermès to stop making the bags until they could address her ethical concerns—and by golly, they quickly complied and she dropped her request.
Mariusz Kubik, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
49. She Said Farewell
Some people believed that Jane Birkin never really got over the heartbreaking loss of her daughter. Fighting a 16-year cancer battle couldn’t have been easy either. In 2021, Birkin suffered a stroke, and then in 2023, at the age of 76, she was found deceased in her home.
France's Minister of Culture tweeted: “The most French of Britons is gone. Jane B was mischief, impertinent elegance, the never-outdated emblem of an entire era”.
nicolas genin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
50. She Is Unforgettable
For a style icon, it’s not surprising that Jane Birkin wore a lot of hats: mother, muse, chanteuse, actress, activist, model, and provocateur.
Though she eventually became a French citizen, her answer to the question of her greatest achievements is self-depreciatingly British: “My three girls and, personally, lasting so long in this profession with limited talent”.
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