(NewsNation) — The original Hermès Birkin bag, a prototype made for actress and singer Jane Birkin, is going up for auction this summer.
The bag will be part of Sotheby’s “Paris Fashion Icons” sale taking place July 10. It will be on view at Sotheby’s in Manhattan from June 6 to 10, and then on display at Sotheby’s Galleries in Paris from July 3 to 9.
The Birkin bag’s origin story comes from a conversation between Birkin and then-Hermès CEO Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight. Birkin complained that she could not find a bag big enough to fit all the things she needed throughout the day, and the two began to sketch out ideas on a sick bag on the plane.
Dumas created the bag for her, and in 1985, Hermès offered the Birkin bag to her and asked for permission to name it after her.
“There is no doubt that the original Birkin bag is a true one-of-a-kind — a singular piece of fashion history that has grown into a pop culture phenomenon that signals luxury in the most refined way possible,” Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said in a statement.