Kanye West’s Controversial Birthday Gift To Kim

It’s no surprise that Kanye West dropped a load of money for an extravagant birthday gift for wife Kim Kardashian’s 34th birthday.

It’s what happened after West purchased the bag that has many crying “Foul!”

Kanye purchased a Hermes Birkin bag for Kim. These bags are produced in very limited number, and so Hermes fans sometimes have their names on waiting lists for years before being able to purchase one. In fact, the Hermes Birkin bag is said to be the most famous bag in the world, but also the most difficult bag to obtain. Hermes actually distributes the bags to its boutiques on an unpredictable schedule and in very limited quantities in order to create exclusivity.

Reports on prices vary, but it’s generally accepted that they begin at around $10,000 and have been known to sell for as high as $203,000…for those who chose to go with the diamond-encrusted option. (And who wouldn’t?)

But Kanye West managed to purchase one for his wife. And, knowing Kanye, it’s doubtful that he went with the “cheap” $10,000 version… but even if he did, that’s roughly the price of a small car.

But, as said, it isn’t what Kanye purchased for Kim — after all, certainly the celebrity couple could afford even the most expensive Hermes Birkin bag — it’s what Kanye did with the bag after he purchased it that is raising so many eyebrows… or, rather, what he allowed his 16-month-old daughter North to do with the bag after he dropped a small fortune on it.

Kim herself explains.

“Kanye had a box, a purse, this Hermes purse, and I opened it and I thought it was so cool. It was all painted really cool and then there was my computer and it said, ‘Press Play.’ I pressed play and my daughter was sitting outside painting the purse. I thought it was an artist that painted the purse, some custom thing. I thought it was some new artist, and it was my daughter. It was amazing and I have it all on video.”

Kanye West allowed their toddler to paint a bag that certainly cost as much as a car, and may have cost as much as a house. A bag that people wait to purchase for as long as six years before obtaining it, a bag that is lined with goat-skin, is hand-stitched by expert French artisans with Hermes distinct saddle stitching, then hand-buffed, hand-polished and hand-painted in a process that takes days, and Kanye set it in front of his toddler with a paint brush and had her personalize it.

And Kim thought it was amazing.

Apparently, though, North West is not the first daughter of a celebrity to destroy a Hermes Berkin bag. It seems as though Francesca Eastwood, daughter of Clint Eastwood, purchased a Birkin made out of crocodile skin for $100,000… and then lit it on fire for the sake of “art.” (Read more about that stunt here.)

Of course, Eastwood may have done it first, but North West managed to destroy one while still in diapers, which may make her a prodigy of some sort.

What do you think? Is it distasteful to see celebrities spend so much money on something just to destroy it?

[Image via The Sun]