People: Birkin seeks split from crocodile-skin handbags
British singer Jane Birkin has asked Hermes to take her name off the crocodile-skin versions of the iconic Birkin handbag, after being contacted by animal rights group PETA over “cruel” slaughtering practices.
A PETA video from June shows several reptiles at a Texas farm that supplies crocodile skins to Hermes left twitching in a bloody ice container to die after being shot with a captive bolt gun and cut with a knife.
Birkin said in a statement obtained Wednesday that she was “alerted to the cruel practices … to make Hermes handbags carrying my name” and has “asked Hermes to de-baptize the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place.”
The Birkin bag was created in 1984 by Hermes in honor of the famed singer and ex-girlfriend of Serge Gainsbourg, and is, still today, one of the world’s most exclusive luxury items.
The bag is beloved by stars such as Victoria Beckham and comes in calf, ostrich and lizard as well as crocodile. It can cost between $10,000 and over $100,000, with waiting lists to buy it famously stretching into the years.
PETA said it takes three crocodile belly skins to make one handbag. In their expose, at the Lone Star Alligator Farms, PETA shows abattoir employees referring to live crocodiles and alligators as “watch straps.”
Soccer has family endorsement
Shakira and pro soccer player Gerard Pique may have another athlete in the family.
On Wednesday, Shakira, 38, posted a video to Twitter and Facebook of the couple’s youngest child, Sasha, who was born in January, in which she appears holding her son in front of a soccer ball.
“Kick,” the Colombian star says repeatedly to the baby boy, who raises his leg and succeeds on the first try.
The 12-second video racked up nearly 2 million views on Facebook in an hour.
The couple’s first child, Milan, a boy, was born in January 2013.
Shakira, who also is a coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” last year launched a line of baby toys and a Web series for moms.
The birthday bunch
Blues musician Buddy Guy is 79. Movie director Peter Bogdanovich is 76. Singer Paul Anka is 74. Jazz musician David Sanborn is 70. Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is 68. Actress Delta Burke is 59. Law professor Anita Hill is 59. Singer-songwriter Kate Bush is 57. Actor Laurence Fishburne is 54. Actress Lisa Kudrow is 52. Actress Vivica A. Fox is 51. Actor Terry Crews is 47. Actor Simon Baker is 46. Actor Tom Green is 44. Actress Hilary Swank is 41. Actress Jaime Pressly is 38. Actor Nico Tortorella is 27. Actress Joey King is 16.