Why Jane Birkin Wanted Her Name Off The Hermes Bag That’s On A List Of Christine Jia Xin Lee’s Purchases — And Then Changed Her Mind
It was in July, 2014, that Malaysian student Christine Jia Xin Lee, studying in Australia, discovered she had an unlimited overdraft on her bank account. It was a banking glitch, but Lee went shopping. Over the next several months, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, she racked up purchases that totaled about AUD$4.6 million ($3.4 million USD), an amount she has not paid nearly a year after her account was frozen and after a series of legal wranglings.
One of those purchases, a rare — and controversial — handbag made from a specially-bred crocodile, is raising eyebrows down under as a symbol of the student’s indulgent buying sprees. It’s the same bag that has made news thanks to the woman whose name it bears.
The Herald prices the Hermes Himalayan Birkin bag at AUD$150,000 ($109,380 USD). The material used is from crocodiles bred to be “almost albino,” to reflect the mountains in the product title. The Himalayan is just one of the Birkin line of handbags, which are deliberately manufactured short of demand to create waiting lists. It is, as a result, a prestigious status symbol. Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that the Birkin bag has proven a better long-term investment than gold.
I’m more appalled that a $150K handbag actually exists. We’re doomed. https://t.co/oeDpCmGotI
— shamaroo oz (@shamaroo) May 15, 2016
But in July, 2015, Jane Birkin had an open row with the company over alleged animal abuse. Birkin is well-known in Europe as a singer and artist. Her name has been on the line since 1980, after she allegedly ran into the Hermes chief executive on an Air France flight and complained about her inefficient handbag. Last year, Birkin was shown a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) video of “cruel practices” against the crocodiles in the creation of the Birkin Croc bag. According to The Guardian, she publicly asked the company to take her name off the product.
The eye-watering shopping list of accidental multimillionaire Christine Jia Xin Lee#Chanel #Hermes #Bvlgari https://t.co/ZdLuXSgRkC
— I Sea (@RiffRaffBriz) May 15, 2016
In September, 2015, Hermes announced that it had repaired its relationship with Birkin. Representatives called the practices in question an “isolated irregularity” at a Texas crocodile farm and that the facility had been put on notice by the company. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Birkin bags also have a goatskin interior and can be made with lizard, leather, or ostrich skin.
The Herald reported that Lee, now 21, purchased many Hermes products while she was still able to access the significant overdraft provided by Westpac. She bought “dozens” of Hermes bags and 13 of the elite brand’s scarves. Among the items she handed over to authorities — after her account was frozen, but before an Australian court ordered an asset seizure — were a Cartier bracelet, four Hermes bags, and 16 bags by designer Christian Dior.
Court documents obtained by The Herald revealed she’d also bought a long list of luxury goods, including several cameras, two smartphones, Chanel pillows, and a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
She was served with a bankruptcy notice in June, 2015, at her Australian apartment. She failed to appear at her September, 2015, court date and was declared an unregistered bankrupt.
Lee was arrested at Sydney airport on May 4, 2016, as she attempted to board a flight to Malaysia. She was charged with “dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime,” according to SMH. Magistrate Lisa Stapleton granted Lee bail on May 5, 2016. Stapleton classified Lee’s actions as not criminal, but as debt that needed to be repaid.
“It isn’t proceeds of crime. It’s money we all dream of.
“She didn’t take it from them. They gave it to her.”
[Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
