A Birkin is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. It carries the luxury trifecta: status, prestige, and sophistication. And now, thanks to Jeff Koons, the man behind the famous Balloon Dog, the contemporary artist-of-the-moment whose retrospective at the Whitney Museum earlier this year was met with resounding success and fanfare, the Birkin will officially go down in history as something of an art form.
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As part of the Project Perpetual, a new initiative that marries art and philanthropy, to benefit the United Nations Foundation, Koons created nine sculptures in a new series that integrate donated Hermes Birkin bags. But these aren’t your average battered secondhand Birkins. Their previous owners include influential figures, like Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, and Sofia Coppola.
On Sunday, Nov. 9, Koons’s new pieces will be auctioned off at the Four Seasons Restaurant in NYC, including the Gazing Ball (Charity), a 6-foot-tall plaster sculpture inspired by Picasso’s La Soupe with three of the donated Birkins (pictured, above), along with eight unique wall sculptures that position the bags as “Readymade” objects on mirrors—a nod to Koons’s earliest works in the ’70s.
For more info on the auction or the mission, head on over to projectperpetual.org.
PHOTOS: Celebs Wearing Hermes, On and Off the Red Carpet