If you had to keep just one object to tell the story of the last 40 years of fashion, it could fit in one hand -- or on one arm, worn nonchalantly like its original muse. It's not a bag, it's the bag . Created following a now mythical Paris-London flight, the very first Birkin bag imagined by Jean-Louis Dumas (former president of Hermès ) for Jane Birkin in 1984 will be auctioned by Sotheby's at its first “Fashion Icons” sale in Paris on July 10.

More than an accessory, this prototype is a relic. A unique piece with the patina of an icon's life. Marked with her initials "J.B.", it features an unexpected detail: nail clippers suspended from a chain. It has to be said that Jane Birkin has never been one to overdo luxury. It was precisely this contrast that forged the Birkin legend

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