Celebrity fashion icon Jane Birkin\'s free-spirited style
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Sticking two fingers up at bourgeois sartorial norms, Jane Birkin (b 1946), became one of the most famous women in France as a result of her relationship with singer Serge Gainsbourg. Her role in Blow Up (1966) established her as a pretty young thing who epitomised the style zeitgeist, and she sealed her notoriety when she and Gainsbourg recorded the duet Je T\'aime... Moi Non Plus in 1969.
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Her penchant for going bra-less and wearing skirts so short they scarcely covered her rear end further enhanced her image as a free-spirited product of her time. After mentioning she couldn\'t find a handbag to suit her needs (her straw basket went everywhere with her), Hermès created a style especially to her requirements, and the Birkin bag was born. Her style is today revered by the likes of Alexa Chung and her daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, all of whom emulate her boyish, sexy chic.
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Picture: Jane Birkin, carrying her trademark basket, in jeans and a white top
Leggy lovely
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin, wearing a white knitted mini dress decorated with paillettes, shows of her leggy style.
Hello, sailor!
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin laughing in a sailor\'s hat with a white t-shirt and high-waisted jeans, tied with a rope (and tied with a sailor\'s knot).
Ship-shape
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin on the Cote d\'Azur in 1973, wearing a blouse with high-waisted, flared jeans and platform heels.
Box fresh
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin out shopping in Paris, wearing a fur jacket and carrying her trademark wicker basket.
Basket case
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin, with baby in Paris, wearing high-waisted jeans with a white cotton top and a wicker basket.
Noce blanche
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
Jane Birkin out on the town with Serge Gainsbourg, wearing a white lace dress open to the naval, and decorated with a brooch.
Belt up
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
Jane Birkin, in a knitted mini dress and a low-slung belt, with partner Serge Gainsbourg in Paris in 1969.
Baby love
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin with her newborn baby Charlotte in August 1971, wearing denim hotpants with a wide leather belt, chunky heeled shoes and a ribbed top.
On the town
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg clubbing at New Jimmy\'s in Paris in 1968. She wore a a sparkly jumpsuit with cutaways, with a matching handbag and ballet flats.
Dancing in the streets
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Posing barefoot in Paris in 1968, Jane Birkin epitomised the free-spirited style of the time in a dark knit mini-dress.
Plane sailing
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin arrive at Heathrow Airport in 1971. She wears shorts with a cowl neck jumper under a wool coat with tap dancing shoes and carries a wicker basket.
Print out
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin models an Ossie Clark ensemble.
Peas in pod
Fashion icon,Jane Birkin
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin with Serge Gainsbourg, wearing a wool pea coat over a mini dress with flats and a wicker basket - a look which brings to mind Alexa Chung today.
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See more fashion icons on handbag:
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Brigitte Bardot
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Jackie Kennedy Onassis
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Faye Dunaway
