Is it still a status symbol if you can actually afford it?
An inexpensive knockoff of the Birkin bag, an exclusive, extremely sought-after leather handbag by luxury brand Hermès that can sell for more than $400,000 US has launched a rousing debate online about fashion accessibility and copycat ethics.
Third-party sellers on Walmart’s website recently listed some new handbag styles and social media users were quick to point out the bags looked quite similar to the famous Hermès handbag. They had the same handles, the same style of buckle on the front and the same shape as the Birkin — a handbag, which, as the New York Times points out, has become a “globally recognized emblem of status and wealth.”
The difference? Walmart’s bags sold for about $80 US (about $115 Cdn). Word quickly spread over the holiday season, and the bags caused a frenzy online, where people referred to them as the Wirkin or the Walmès (short for the Walmart or working class Birkin, or the Walmart Hermès). The original Wirkin is made by Kamugo and is listed as the “KAMUGO Genuine Leather Handbags Purse for Women.”
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In one TikTok video posted on Dec. 19, user @StyledByKristi unboxes a new Wirkin. “Oooh, she’s pretty,” she says as she admires the bright green handbag.
“Eighty bucks and you can pretend that you got a Birkin,” she says in the video, which already has nine million views.
Others note that the bag is a way into the largely inaccessible luxury goods sphere.
“I love this bag. I love the concept that we can have people who would normally not have access to that kind of luxury get something similar and feel like they have a nice bag,” said TikToker @LastingLooks on Dec. 25. “It levels the playing field.”
A still captured from a TikTok video posted by @lifestyle.with_g on Dec. 29, 2024, shows the viral bag sold on Walmart’s website that came to be known as the ‘Wirkin,’ short for Walmart Birkin or working-class Birkin. (@lifestyle.with_g/TikTok)
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So, what’s the controversy?
First, there’s the issue of whether the Wirkin intentionally copies the Birkin.
As Forbes notes, unlike a lot of luxury brand dupes — short for duplicates — the bag sold at Walmart isn’t marketed to deceive buyers. The word “Birkin” didn’t appear on the Walmart website, except in some online customer reviews. Interestingly, on the Canadian Walmart website, it’s called a “Birkin-style bag.”
Still, counterfeits and dupes have long been an issue in the design, fashion and beauty industries.
A 2021 report from the European Union Intellectual Property Office called the global trade in fakes a “significant and growing threat.” The report says handbags are frequently one of the most targeted products for counterfeiters.
And as CBC’s The Current previously reported, dupe culture has faced criticism for fuelling over-consumption and fast fashion, which can come at a cost for the environment and for the workers making the clothing.
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Legal experts have pointed out that unlike counterfeit goods, dupes exist in a legal grey area by focusing on aesthetic similarity instead of branding, and thus most companies manage to avoid intellectual property infringement.
WATCH | Ugg dupes … yea or nay?
“This distinction allows dupes to capitalize on the popularity and design elements of well-known products while offering consumers a more affordable alternative,” explained the Fashion and Law Journal.
While some online have wondered whether Hermès will go after Walmart and third-party vendors for infringement, so far, the company has not spoken about the so-called Wirkin.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t, explains intellectual property lawyer Shermin Lahka in a Jan. 4 YouTube Video.
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“Hermès has been known to take an aggressive approach to trademark infringement, and courts have historically been in favour of Hermès,” she said.
As the Fashion Law website points out, Hermès holds various trademark registrations for its Birkin bag, including for its distinctive shape.
In 2022, the Italian Supreme Court ruled in favour of Hermès, essentially protecting its trademark shape from unauthorized copies.
And in 2012, the company was awarded $100 million US in damages after suing websites selling fake versions of its goods.
The status symbol
While many online are celebrating an affordable alternative to the Birkin, others aren’t so happy about a potential watering-down of the luxury brand, and are concerned that it may result in the bag no longer being considered a status symbol.
As longtime Hermès collector Angelique Chamberlain recently told Forbes, there’s an entire culture and process of buying an Hermès bag. To maintain exclusivity and demand, the brand uses a quota system for certain styles, including the Birkin, Kelly, and sometimes Constance bags, where no one is allowed to buy more than two quota bags per year.
“For the most part, you can’t walk in and buy a quota bag,” said Chamberlain. “You work with your Hermès sales associate to pick out your bag’s leather, hardware, colour and style.”
She noted that it isn’t just about how much a person spends, but about their love and appreciation for the fashion house.
Others say this is exactly why they love the Wirkin — because it has made a very elite space accessible.
On TikTok, Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel said the bag has “broken the glass ceiling” of luxury spaces.
“This is basically the mob storming the castle saying ‘We’re here too, bitch. Deal with it.’ You guys flaunted it, you guys made it seem like we’d never get to be part of this, and now we get to be part of this fair and square,” she said.
A guest at the 77th Cannes Film Festival carries an Hermès Birkin bag in Cap d’Antibes, southern France on on May 23, 2024. (Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images)
Why are Birkins so expensive?
The Birkin bag was created by the Paris fashion house in 1984 in honour of actor and singer Jane Birkin. She once happened to be seated next to the president of Hermès on a flight and chatted with him about her need for a practical handbag as a young mother juggling the worlds of French cinema, music and fashion.
Though it had its roots in practical durability, the Birkin bag became one of the world’s most exclusive luxury items, with a stratospheric price tag and years-long wait list to buy it.
Birkin handbags, which are handcrafted from leather by artisans in France, can cost tens of thousands of dollars new and can only be purchased in an Hermès store, not on its website. On the second-hand market, the bags go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Celebrity fans include Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Cardi B.
The company releases a select number of each style, Business Insider points out, and this short supply and high demand is what makes the bags so desireable.
A view of Hermès Birkin bags on display during luxury week at Christie’s auction house in New York City on June 4, 2021. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
“The economics of supply and demand have driven up Birkin prices for the last 20 years,” noted the auction website Sothebys‘ blog.
The bags available on Sotheby’s marketplace range from $315,000 (for a White Matte Niloticus Crocodile Himalaya Birkin 30 with palladium hardware) down to a measly $14,800 (for a White Togo Birkin 35 with gold hardware).
In 2018, a luxury Hermès handbag shattered the world auction record in Hong Kong, fetching an eye-popping $380,000 US, according to auction house Christie’s. The handbag was produced in 2014 and had 18 karat gold buckles and strap loops encrusted with 205 diamonds.
But if you’re in the market for a less expensive dupe, you may be out of luck. The Wirkin now appears to not only be copying the Birkin itself, but also the high demand/low supply that made the original what it is.
Wirkin bags are sold out online, and though the Walmart website listing no longer even exists, customer reviews call it “the perfect Birkin dupe.”
While a version could be found on Amazon, it’s now listed as out of stock, too. Walmart Canada’s website does appear to sell something similar for $167.99 through a third-party seller.
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