There are plenty of French words you could use to sum up Jane Birkin’s style: chic, je ne sais quoi, laissez faire, louche, and she was all of those things. But seeing as we don’t often get to claim an iconic Parisian as one of our own, let’s stick with English: she was cool. Boho is tricky, because you can easily just look dishevelled and a bit mucky. Birkin looked like a combination of Annie Hall meets Inès de la Fressange. We all know that theoretically a crisp white shirt and a pair of jeans is the most stylish outfit on the planet, but the reality is it takes a Jane Birkin to pull it off. The rest of us look like a potato in
FASHION
Jane Birkin carried a £10k bag with an air of ‘Oh, this old thing’
With her choppy fringe, and insouciant attitude, Jane Birkin was already a style icon before a chance encounter led to the famous Hermès tote. By Hilary Rose
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin in 1974, and carrying a Birkin bag in 2013
The Times
