Fashionistas can rent a once-dare-to-dream Hermès Birkin bag — but outraged critics argue that it’s a pricey scheme

Anything for a Birkin.

There’s something about watching Kylie Jenner strut into Madison Square Garden carrying her deep blue crocodile Hermès Birkin 35 to cheer on the Knicks courtside with beau, Timothée Chalamet, that will make accessory lovers yearn to get their hands on the ever-enviable handbag.

Since most luxury bag buffs don’t have $63,000 to blow on a posh purse like Jenner’s, various designer subscription services now allow consumers to temporarily carry one of the world’s most elusive handbags for hundreds of dollars a month.

New York-based Vivrelle, one of the largest and most influencer-friendly luxury accessories rental programs, recently rolled out a new invite-only membership tier, “privée,” that gives top-spending members access to Hermès Birkin, only 500 of them, which are sourced through auctions and resellers, Kelly, and Constance bags for a whopping $800 a month.

The approach is something founders Blake and Wayne Geffen referred to as “democraticizing” luxury. “The shift from ownership to access changes the relationship people have with fashion,” Blake told James Lane Post.

It might sound too good to be Birkin true as deep-pocketed members will have to pay $9,600 in rental fees throughout the year to unlock access to the coveted bags, which has many wondering why someone would want to pay that much to rent.

“For six months of that membership, you can get a vintage Kelly,” Sana Roychowdhury, a New York-based musician and collector of vintage Hermès, pointed out to the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

But Vivrelle isn’t the only head-scratching service prying on hopeful Hermes carriers.

By Rotation is another UK-based rental platform that launched in 2019 and allows designer feens to share luxe goods, including the ever-enviable Birkin.

While By Rotation renters don’t have to pay a recurring membership fee, lenders can charge as much as $500 a day for certain items, including the posh purse, depending on style and size.

Online reactions to these Birken rental services have ranged from indifference to horror, with many questioning whether it undermines the bag’s appeal and exclusivity.

“I personally don’t get the appeal,” one Reddit user wrote in a thread discussing the topic. “Maybe for influencers who want to flaunt, but I like having a bag that’s mine.”

Another commenter added bluntly: “My bag is for myself to love and cherish… not to show off for any event or symbol of status.”

While someone else chimed in, adding, “[I] love the idea of owning something that can be passed down and has sentimental stories attached to it.”

The Birkin’s mystique has been built on scarcity, and buying directly from Hermès is notoriously difficult, often requiring strategic tactics like years-long relationships with sales associates to get on their good side and spending upwards of some New Yorkers’ salaries on unrelated products to prove brand loyalty.

Social media, too, has gamified this process. Online forums and TikTok videos are dedicated to swapping tips on securing the coveted appointments.

One user described being denied appointments while dressed head-to-toe in luxury labels, including Hermès, only to secure one later by appearing more understated and “elegant, but basic.” The user also alleged that the appointments were completely at the discretion of the sales associates.

That exclusivity is exactly what made the Birkin such a powerful internet flex once Gen Z influencers got involved.

In recent years, TikTok has been flooded with Birkin unboxings, “What’s in my bag?” videos, and luxury hauls, pulling in millions of views.

Before Vivrelle’s newest program, critics speculated about how so many influencers were getting their hands on arguably one of fashion’s most prized items, suggesting they were swapping bags among themselves just to post unboxing content online as “new.”

A 2025 WWD article questioned whether influencers were “mainstreaming” the Birkin altogether, noting that social media had transformed the bag from a quiet luxury object into a highly visible badge of aspirational wealth.

But rentals may represent the next phase of that evolution: not just showcasing wealth, but performing it temporarily.

That tension between ownership and appearance is what many luxury consumers seem fixated on. Online discussions increasingly frame the influencer-driven rentals less as practical fashion access and more as evidence that the Birkin has become another social media prop.

“Influencers have just made Birkins and Kellys so oversaturated,” one Reddit user wrote.

While some are supportive and even curious about the rental approach, arguing that it’s a way to test run a bag to see if it’s practical for everyday life, many of the indifferent comments suggest that users don’t care as long as their bag isn’t a rental or a fake.

As Birkin history goes, the people who carried the bag were aspirational figures, and that appeal hasn’t changed. The irony is that the market flooded with dupes and resales has only created more buzz and desire for the real thing, according to Wendy Liebmann, CEO of Strategic Retail. In this case, authenticity itself has become a luxury.

And for a generation raised online, carrying a Birkin, albeit briefly, may matter less as a long-term investment than as proof you managed to at all.