Jane Birkin Wants Her Name Off Hermes Bag

The Birkin is a bag so longed after it had a whole Sex and the City plotline written about it. Now—drama!—the celeb whom the bag was named after wants that name off of one such bag in particular. In a statement to AFP, Jane Birkin explains that "having been alerted to the cruel practices reserved for crocodiles during their slaughter to make Hermes handbags carrying my name ... I have asked Hermes to debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place." The statement follows a PETA investigation into crocodile farms that allegedly supply Hermes; PETA claims making one handbag requires two to three crocodiles.

PETA reported one such farm is in Winnie, Texas, and wrote that "at just one year old, alligators [there] are shot with a captive-bolt gun or crudely cut into while they're still conscious and able to feel pain." Hermes noted in a statement to People that it's investigating the Texas farm but notes "this farm does not belong to [Hermes] and that the crocodile skins supplied are not used for the fabrication of Birkin bags." (Jezebel's take: "Hermes on Birkin Renaming Request: We're Fixing This Non-Problem!") People points out that Kim Kardashian West, Victoria Beckham, and Jennifer Lopez are known to be owners of the Birkin Croco. (More Birkin bag stories.)