By Marianina Patsa

The bohemian creature that conquered the world

“A Birkin bag is a very good rain hat. Just put all the other stuff in a plastic bag” – Jane Birkin.

Actress, singer, fashion icon. She was considered a symbol of French sophistication and worshiped as a sex symbol. And if one has to describe her in just one word, then that word is ‘muse’.

Jane Birkin, although British, was French-speaking, since Paris won her over from the late 60s. And she may have over 70 films and 14 albums in her career, but in the collective unconscious she has passed as the ethereal creature at his side Serge Gainsbourg, who in 1969 sensually sang “Je t’aime… moi non plus”. The song made them both world-famous. It also got the Vatican to excommunicate it and the BBC to “cut” it. But history embraced it forever. “Jealousy pushed me to perform the song” she will later admit. “I remember Serge getting a TV crew and journalists to listen to the version he had done with Brigitte Bardot, which was never released, and there was a very beautiful girl in a dress lying on the sofa. When I saw how proud he was to get the reporters and the girl on the sofa to hear it, I thought I’d better sing it myself.”

Her unconventional romance with Serge Gainsbourg, in her own words: “We had to represent a form of freedom. The 20 year age difference, our lifestyle, the fact that we went out at night and came back in the morning to wake the kids up for school and then slept during the day… This was my fantasy. The lack of any kind of taboo”.

Her bohemian figure was adored by many designers, whom she inspired and continues to inspire to this day. Proof is the famous luxury bag that bears her name, which is considered the holy grail of bags and whose price increases by 14% every year. But the slim girl with the androgynous figure, the huge blue eyes and the trademark bangs, never loved anything pretentious. Wide jeans and white T-shirts are preferred. “I feel most comfortable in an old pair of jeans, Converse and a men’s jersey. My best friend cuts my hair with kitchen scissors.”

Her perspective on the world in trouble? Also unconventional. “My mother was right: When you have nothing left, the only thing you can do is put on silk underwear and start reading Proust.” And she was no stranger to hard times. In 1991, Serge died at the age of 62. Although they had been separated since 1980 due to his alcoholism, they remained very close to each other. Her father also passed, three days apart. And in 2013, her first-born daughter, Kate Barry, died after falling from the balcony of her apartment in Paris.

Jane Birkin has passed away at the age of 76 but her mark remains strong not only in art, fashion and eternal sensuality, but also in human rights issues, which she fiercely defended, bringing tangible help to those who needed it most. Her legacy extends far beyond her songs, her films or her iconic style. Even if reflexively, the first thing that comes to mind upon hearing her name, is her ethereal form saying “Je t’aime… moi non plus”.