Remember When Jane Birkin Pied Serge Gainsbourg?

START
body

There is no named-bag more influential than the Birkin, a piece that has captivated those from check out counter to art studio since its inception in 1984. It was what cemented Jane Birkin—star of film and music—as a fashion icon, and proved that some classics never do go out of style. But before the house of Hermès took hold of the star, Birkin herself famously carried around a two-pound wicker basket as her purse of choice.

Whimsical and unexpected, it was purchased at a Portuguese vintage market, and became a personal extension of the actress. So much so that early into her eventual decade-long relationship with Serge Gainsbourg, it ignited flames and, well, pie.

One drunken Saturday evening in Paris at the Left Bank hot spot Chez Castel, the then-new pair (she 22, he 40) found themselves dancing downstairs when, in an alcohol-induced stupor, disaster struck. At some point, for whatever reason, Gainsbourg flipped Birkin’s basket upside, spilling its entire contents all across the dance floor.

Embarrassed and enraged, Birkin retaliated by grabbing a lemon custard pie (unexplainably nearby) and chucked it at his face. Shocked by the intensity of her own reaction, she ran out of the club, down the Rue des Saints-Pères, and straight to the Seine, throwing herself into river. “I thought I had done something so shameful that I really had to do something pretty extraordinary,” Birkin once explained.

In the end, the actress was fished out of the waters by fireman and all was forgiven between the iconic couple. Her only regret? The Saint Laurent blouse she was wearing was dry clean-only.

END

prev link: https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a14432728/jane-birkin-pie-serge-gainsbourg/
createdAt:Thu, 14 Dec 2017 13:59:34 +0000
displayType:Standard Article
section:Culture