Paris is rising as an art market hub, with some way left to go

[PARIS] “This is the Mona Lisa of handbags,” said Aurelie Vassy, Sotheby’s head of handbag and fashion sales in Europe, as she unlocked a glass display case and proudly revealed a battered black leather Birkin.

“The first in the world, made for Jane Birkin. It’s the beginning,” said Vassy, pointing out the design features of the bag, specially made by Hermes for the Anglo-French singer and actress in 1984. Three years earlier, Birkin had found herself sitting next to the CEO of the luxury brand on a flight from Paris to London and had sketched the design on the back of a sick bag.

This precious fashion icon, on loan from the collection of the pre-owned luxury dealer Catherine B, was one of the star exhibits at the opening of Sotheby’s new salesroom in the Avenue Matignon district of Paris on Oct 12. The auction house held surrealism and modern art sales on Friday (Oct 18), just days after the inaugural edition of the Art Basel Paris fair began in the newly renovated Grand Palais.