Would You Paint Your Birkin?

In Parts I and II of our Birkin facts series you caught 16 nuggets of fabulous Hermès Birkin trivia. From nail clippers (originally attached to the bag) to novels (Primates of Park Avenue) to numbers (200,000 in circulation and over $350,000 for most expensive resold B), you probably think you’ve heard everything. Well, the next tidbit pretty much takes the cake (or Birkin) for being over the top. We’re talking customizing your bag with . . .

Paint.  We can feel some of you cringing, just thinking of the stunning leathers Hermès features in its most popular purse. It was horrifying enough to see Jane Birkin’s Birkin with applied stickers but, after all, she is the namesake.  The teenage daughter of director Clint Eastwood chopping up and burning a B brought fire and fury. Where does using your Birkin as a canvas fall?

Perhaps not surprisingly, Kardashians have done this.  Kim’s HAC Birkin was painted by modern artist George Condo with nudes as a Christmas gift from her husband Kanye West.

Khloe has a kiwi green Birkin custom painted by known grafitti artist Alec Monopoly  . . . with the Monopoly man and dollar bills. She playfully dubbed it her “money bag.” Surely it cost money bags.

And Monopoly has created a mini-monopoly in this industry.

He’s even decorated crocodile.

But Lady Gaga preceded the Ks.  When she landed in Tokyo in 2010 for her concert tour, she was spotted carrying a white Birkin with Japanese writing translated to “I love small monster. Tokyo love.”

And there are more with decorated Bs who have posted pix on Instagram.  Tamara Eccelstone has one by Monopoly. And both Real Housewife of Atlanta Nene Leakes and singer Rita Ora have been spotted with paint-covered Bs.