No woman represents classic French fashion like Jane Birkin,
and no accessory defines her effortless style more than the iconic straw basket that now bears her name. She carried it everywhere, slung over one arm: filled with green apples at a street market or stuffed with loose reading papers at the airport.
The year was 1983 Jane was on a flight seated next to Jean-Louis Dumas, who at the time was Hermès chief executive. One basket bag spilling its contents everywhere and a conversation about weekend handbags lead to the ultimate status symbol. The Birkin bag. But, for Jane her namesake bag became too heavy, the secret contents of her handbag straining the heavy leather.
So, she put down her Hermès and picked up her basket bag again, never looking back.
The actress styled her Portuguese fish basket with everything: denim, a little white frock, and even wore it with a cocktail dress at the Cannes Film Festival (with a silk scarf ingeniously wrapped around the handle)
There are five or six villagers, aged about 70 to 80 years, who still practice the traditional basket-weaving technique—but Heavey only works with one. He is 80 years old, she says and has been weaving baskets by hand since age 10. In the middle of a small village, he works on is garage alone.
So whether you’re going classic or looking for elevated styles, start your own straw bag obsession with the bag bellow, the only brand how is still going to Algarve to produce them as the original.
