A growing number of Irish celebrities are joining the jet-set elite of glamorous women who want to be photographed with the designer bag money alone can’t buy.

Reality TV star Maura Higgins recently showed off her new €32,000 Hermès Birkin bag during a girls’ trip to Paris.

The Longford woman – named this week as being among the world’s most influential online personalities, making Time magazine’s 100 Creators list – was photographed dining on caviar and oysters at the ultra-trendy La Girafe restaurant and dancing with her high-flying friends while cradling her new tan Birkin, which she dubbed her ‘new baby’.

Higgins is not the only Irish influencer to join the ranks of Birkin carriers; influencer and entrepreneur Suzanne Jackson, former model Claudine Keane and fellow WAG Áine May Kennedy have also shown off their must-have Hermès bags to followers.

Some of the world’s richest and biggest celebrities are members of fashion’s most exclusive club, including Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Cardi B and billionaire heiress Isha Ambani, whose diamond‑encrusted Birkin Sac Bijou — crafted from 18‑carat white gold and set with more than 3,000 diamonds — is reportedly worth an eye-popping €2million.

In economic terms, the Birkin has become the ultimate ‘Veblen good’ – a product whose appeal lies in its very exclusivity. 

And the higher the price, the more people appear to want it.

Buying a Birkin is a test in itself. 

You can’t simply order one online, or walk into a Hermès store and pick one off a shelf.

Instead, would‑be buyers spend months – or years – building a relationship with the brand. And they often have no say in the colour, size or leather they’re offered.

When the call finally comes, you take the bag presented to you… or you walk away and risk waiting all over again.

Ella De Guzman, owner of Dublin’s designer resale store Siopaella, explained ‘there’s no rhyme nor reason to how you get a Birkin’.

She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Hermès really are the champions of exclusivity, and they have been for a long time.’ 

Ella said some customers walk into a Hermès store wearing a tracksuit, buy one scarf and get offered a bag on the spot. 

Yet others spend ‘€100,000 a year’ and have to wait years. 

‘It depends on the sales associate, the relationship, and to be honest, what mood they’re in.’

Because they’re so hard to get, the resale market is booming.

‘A client of mine bought a bag for €8,000 and we sold it for €22,000.’

Ella has handled sales as high as ‘€42,000… all in a couple of minutes’ but warns buyers to be careful.

‘You need to know how to authenticate… be really careful where you buy it from.’

Hermès can let you place an order for a Birkin, but it’s not straightforward.

‘They’ll ask what leather you want, what colour, what hardware, what size… and every year you have to renew your order if you weren’t offered a bag.’

Ella’s advice for anyone hoping to join the Birkin club is surprisingly practical.

‘You are going to pay a premium… but if you’re okay with [buying] one that’s a little bit banged up, get it sent away for repair.’

Asked about Maura Higgins’s new tan Birkin, Ella said of the price tag: ‘When you said €32,000… unless it’s an exotic skin, that sounds like a resale.’

Other Irish clients who appear to have successfully navigated the Birkin gauntlet include football legend Robbie Keane’s wife Claudine Keane, who now has three Birkins in her collection.

Last summer, she debuted a cream Birkin at the Brown Thomas Fashion Lunch. 

The former model has also been spotted carrying black and dark grey versions – the kind of arm candy that announces itself before she even walks into the room.

Fellow WAG Áine May Kennedy – who is engaged to English football star Conor Gallagher – was photographed with three different Birkin bags at the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.

Suzanne Jackson is another proud member of Ireland’s Birkin club.

For her 40th birthday, husband Dylan O’Connor surprised her with a soft grey Birkin, which she said he is ‘besotted’ with.

She even posted pictures of her new bag’s designer wrapping, revealing the iconic orange Hermès box and a colourful silk twilly wrapped around the handles.

The Birkin obsession is now a global phenomenon. Victoria Beckham famously amassed around 100 of the designer handbags during her WAG heyday.

Kylie Jenner has shelves lined with dozens of her own, including a black alligator Birkin worth around €87,000 and a brown crocodile version estimated at more than €140,000.

The very first Birkin – created for the iconic French-British actress and singer Jane Birkin – smashed records when it sold for €8.6million at auction last year, becoming the most expensive handbag ever sold.

Yet the bag’s origins are surprisingly humble. 

In 1984, Birkin found herself seated beside Hermès chief executive Jean‑Louis Dumas on a flight from Paris to London.

After complaining she couldn’t find a chic, practical handbag large enough for everyday life. 

Dumas promptly sketched a design on the spot – and the Birkin was born. 

Forty years later, the simple leather carry-all has become the ultimate status symbol.