How Jane Birkin Became The Ultimate It Girl
The Run-Through with Vogue
Vogue
4.1 • 764 Ratings
🗓️ 15 July 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The fashion equivalent of the Super Bowl—or maybe the recent FIFA Club World Cup final?—may just have been the auction of Jane Birkin’s original Hermès Birkin bag last Thursday. On the pod this week to discuss all things Birkin, the origins of French girl style, and how looking effortless often takes real effort is writer and friend of the pod Marisa Meltzer, whose new book, It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin, is out in October.
But first, earlier in the episode, Sam Sussman, Vogue’s global director of social, drops in to share what it was like to attend the Birkin bag auction in person—and explain (unrelatedly) why she couldn’t stop watching this season of Love Island. (Hint: we love Amaya Papaya!)
The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews.
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Runthrough is brought to you by eBay. eBay, it's the place to fall in love with new, pre-loved, vintage, and rare fashion over and over again. Your favorite designers, expertly authenticated. Yes, eBay, things people love. |
| 0:24.1 | This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mao. And I'm Tomeinardi. |
| 0:25.6 | And today on the show, we have Choma's conversation with beloved Marissa Meltzer, incredible |
| 0:32.6 | author, who we had on the show once before about her book on Glossier. |
| 0:38.8 | And I'm so excited to listen to her in Choma's conversation about her new book, It Girl, all about Jane Birkin. |
| 0:45.4 | I know. It was so fun talking to Marissa. She's, you know, she goes deep on her obsessions. |
| 0:51.4 | And I think for this book, she definitely went deep. In fact, she was in Paris when we spoke, and she was just about to go to the auction of Jane's beloved Birkenbag. |
| 1:04.2 | I was very excited about the timeliness of this Marista interview because on Thursday, all eyes were on |
| 1:14.7 | the original Birkenbag, the prototype, |
| 1:18.6 | and Sam Sussman was in the room where it happened. |
| 1:22.6 | Reporting live. |
| 1:24.7 | Southern East Paris. |
| 1:26.7 | What was the scene like? I can't even begin to imagine who was there. |
| 1:30.3 | Was it really crowded? |
| 1:31.3 | Was there a lot of, I mean, tell us everything. |
| 1:34.3 | It was totally, I'll admit it. |
| 1:37.3 | I've never been to an auction before, so I didn't know what to expect. |
| 1:41.3 | Luckily, we had coordinated some press badges, so I got to go behind the velvet rope. |
| 1:47.1 | It was smaller than I thought, but the bag, I mean, the bag was right there enclosed in a glass case. |
| 1:53.5 | Wait, the auction was smaller or the bag was small? |
| 1:55.3 | No. The bag was a great size. |
| 1:57.9 | The auction was smaller than I thought. |
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