I think most people have heard of the elusive Hermes Birkin bag; although most people probably couldn’t pick one out of a line up and even fewer would ever attempt to own one. I worked with a client who had a black leather one and they are admittedly nice bags but spending (at minimum) $7,000 on a handbag is insane. Hermes is smart though; they have created a shortage which has only spurred the demand.
Michael Tonello was a make-up artist who owned his own company in Provincetown, MA. After a visit to Barcelona, and a chance phone call with a friend who could offer him employment in Spain, Michael decides to uproot his life and become an expatriate. His job offer falls through but he has already signed a 5-year-lease for an apartment; he decides to worry about employment later and sell some of his used luxury goods on e-bay to make ends meet.
After selling an Hermes scarf her receives an email from a woman named Grace who asks if he has any other Hermes goods to offer. This leads him on a journey he could have never anticipated.
He begins going to numerous European stores looking for older scarf designs which are harder to find in America. After many successful trips and numerous sales a new (famous) client asks if he has ever come across a Birkin bag. Sales clerks are trained to tell customers there is a two-year wait list and that they don’t carry Birkins in the store. Michael is determined to impress this famous client and sets out to get a Birkin- no matter what. After a few false starts Michael begins to develop a nearly flawless system that gets him in the Birkin business; business booms and Michael creates a network of associates to keep up with his demand. He mainly discusses his numerous dealings with Hermes stores and a few of his more memorable clients; one of which asked if he could be so kind as to drive her Aston Martin from Boston to Florida since he was making a similar trip anyway. He travels a lot but he mostly only gets to see the inside of Hermes stores. It’s actually a little depressing to have such a fluffy job that keeps you from enjoying all that Paris or Greece has to offer.
It’s a pretty ridiculous book and while he discusses his boyfriend, Juan, and a bit about his family this book is about 95% Hermes. I am surrounded by luxury goods on a daily basis at work and while I can’t afford most of them it doesn’t keep me from being interested in them; the subject nature of Bringing Home the Birkin is what attracted me in the first place. However, I can understand it is not everyone’s cup of tea.
