Brooklyn company MSCHF has a reputation for pulling headline-grabbing stunts, and on Monday, it released what might be its most audacious project yet: Birkenstock sandals made from actual Hermes Birkin bags.
Clearly enjoying the play of words, the company, founded in 2016 by Gabriel Whaley, bought four vintage Hermes Birkin handbags, and remade them into shoes it has named Birkinstocks.
While sanctioned by neither the German shoemaker Birkenstock, nor the French luxury house Hermes, the MSCHF websites invites enquires to purchase the shoes.
Due to the very limited number made – there are supposedly just ten pairs – any would-be buyer must submit a letter of intention to the website, such as customers for the Hermes bags, with prices ranging from $34,000 to $76,000, depending on size.
Each shoe comes with a description of the Birkin bag that was destroyed to make it. For example, a white pair was made from a size 35 Hermes Nile crocodile bag that cost $35,000, while a pair in rich chocolate came from a Porosus crocodile bag, also size 35, worth $48,000.
MSCHF bought $122,500 worth of original Birkin bags for this project. After first experimenting on fake versions, it approached New York leather work companies to deconstruct and then cut up the Hermes original. Apparently appalled, the first tranche of companies all refused.
Created in 1984 for the actress Jane Birkin when she complained she couldn't find the right bag size, the Birkin bag is today as famous for its ability to increase in value as for its shape. Regarded as a better investment than gold, Birkins accrue an average of 14 per cent in value per year, and hold records for the most expensive bags sold at auction.
Explaining the project, MSCHF asks: "Ever mis-spell something and then realise you actually got it right? Birkinstocks are the most exclusive sandal ever made. All leather is sourced from genuine Birkin bags."
It continues, “materials derive value from their place in history and culture. Historically we make luxury objects out of inherently valuable materials. Gold and jewels are perennial favorites, but rare speaks a language of its own. Today, Birkin bags appreciate with an average 14 per cent annual return, consistently beating the S&P 500 – by this metric, just as gold, though shiny, is no longer the basis of currency, we can look to the Birkin bag itself as the new luxury raw material par excellence.”
While the thought of destroying something so valuable will jar many, it is nothing new for MSCHF. Taking a shot at the art industry, it bought a Damien Hirst dot painting in May 2020, which it promptly cut up into the individual dots, to sell one by one. Then there was the Jesus Shoes' project, where the air midsole of Air Max 97's was filled with Holy Water. Both projects sold out in minutes.
Also in 2020, it created three, six-foot-high, hand-painted US medical bills as art pieces, before selling them to an art gallery for $73,360. In a case of life imitating art, the money was reportedly used to settle people's outstanding medical bills.
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
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Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
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Labour dispute
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The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.
Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.
Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
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