Jane Birkin

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How did a 20-year-old Englishwoman land in Paris and become THE fashion icon? Say her name and a whole silhouette appears: fringe skimming her eyes, a knit tossed over denim, bare legs under a mini, a wicker basket swinging at her side. Jane Birkin wasn’t timeless by accident. She made "effortless" a point of view. Her mantra. Her life.  Then lived it so consistently that it became immortal.

“I’m so laid-back about everything, you can’t imagine… I just don’t give a hoot. Is that what it means to be Parisian?” - Jane Birkin, 2021

Her transformation from bohemian Brit to Parisian muse is chronicled in this incredible book by fashion journalist Sophie Gachet. Based in Paris, she is the co-author of five books with Inès de la Fressange, including the bestselling book La Parisienne. Her expertise allows her to bring us on a wonderful journey of Jane Birkin’s fashion. Her life. Her style.

Despite herself Birkin became the most Parisian of Englishwomen. Gachet takes you on her journey: from very British minis with bohemian prints, the crop tops, through her canon:  shorts, jeans, knits, T-shirts, the tank tops, the neck-ties - and by her forties she had distilled everything down to the most relaxed uniform - sweater, jeans and sneakers - without ever losing her lightness or that mix of candour and gravity. What changed wasn’t the woman; it was the edit. The sex symbol of the Sixties became the casual chic of later years.

Birkin treated “basics” as a manifesto. Her self-cut DIY fringe - the Birkin bangs - became an institution. And still is to this day. A worshipper of jeans (often Lee Cooper, named Jeans for Jane). A slouchy sweater, a rolled-sleeve tee, the occasional tuxedo, and later, wide masculine trousers. The message was always the same: it’s not the label; it’s the life you live in the clothes. 

On a flight in 1984, a chance conversation produced a sketch for an un-precious holdall which became the Birkin. Holding her life - scuffed, stickered, overfilled, burdened with charms - decades on, the bag is still breaking records.

Actor, singer, director, author, activist: Birkin refused to be one thing. To be defined by one thing. In her clothes too. She wore what worked, what felt good, what let her move. “I’m not a fashionista,” she liked to say. “I just know what I like.” The world noticed despite it all. Enraptured by her.

Born in Nottingham in 1946 and passing on 16 July 2023, Birkin continues to dress generations. Her style hasn’t gone out of fashion because it was never about chasing fashion. It was about ease. Jane, we salute you. 

Deborah Maclaren

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