Reinterpretation and Concept Design of the Birkin Bag

"Not having a Birkin is a crime."

A Birkin is the reflection of thousands of clients from Hermès; it is the product that symbolizes status, and it behaves as one of the best investments for people with a high purchase power. In my country, this luxury market is mainly directed to two big groups: politicians/businessmen and narcotrafficking/organized crime. 

Drug cartels and criminals are some of the wealthiest groups in Mexico, but where is this money really coming from? Are wealth and luxury items worth the consequences of their actions, and therefore, be traded? Money laundering requires mastery: deceive the world silently without leaving a single trace of criminal acts to turn dirty bills into investments that increase their value as time passes by to keep generating profit. 

There are three stages to achieve this task: placement, stratification, and integration. In this project, I focus on the second stage, in which dirty money is invested in real estate or luxury products. In this case, a Birkin, the most exclusive bag in the world. 

The thesis of this project focuses on the relationship that exists between money laundering and the acquisition of luxury products in Mexico, where I demonstrate the reality of a large part of the sector that Hermès addresses in our country, evidencing the true price that is paid when obtaining a Birkin on the black market. 

In this proposal, I deconstruct the meaning of luxury, linking the background of a criminal lifestyle with the exclusivity that this product emanates. This Birkin is a symbol of concealment, where violence and blood are transformed into something elegant and desirable, and death and status come together to give value to wealth.

A Birkin in exchange for life, freedom, and justice. Sometimes, luxury is not glamorous.