Influencer Victoria Paris has faced backlash online after destroying a $5,000 Gucci bag solely for style.
In a deleted video posted on April 30, the popular social media personality shared clips of herself with her 1.9 million followers slamming her bag against wooden steps to give it a worn-out effect. Several users reacted to Paris' TikTok video with surprise and disgust, and one user, who goes by @floorkruk, stitched the video to show viewers the bag's $5,000 price tag. The user's jab caused nearly 1,000 people to flock to the comments section, expressing their disbelief.
“I had to pick my jaw up off the floor… WHY?” one person wrote. “Isn't the goal to let the bag age itself with use???”
“Why wouldn't she just… use the bag to make it look the way she wants?” Another added, while others commented: “For example, why doesn't she just…just use the bag so she looks…used?”
Others pointed out that Paris was making fun of people who could barely afford luxury items, let alone pay their bills and purchases.
“Most of us are deciding between getting gas or food this week though lol,” one user commented.
“3k would literally solve all my problems [right now] But come out, queen! said another person.
Some defended Paris's handbag abuse, writing that she was emulating what style icons Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Jane Birkin did with their own bags.
“It was a joke,” one person wrote. “She destroyed another person.” [old] bag, not the expensive one from Gucci.”
“Didn't you like buying it? So you can do whatever you want with it,” someone else argued.
The Jane Birkin effect that some assumed she was attempting has gained traction online, with some users pointing out that Birkin, the icon who inspired the famous Hermès Birkin in the 1980s, notoriously wore her bags until they were on their last legs. She was known for adorning the straps of her handbags with various trinkets, including jewelry and scarves, personalizing them in a way that made them unmistakably hers.
marie claire Fashion director Naomi Smith noted: “At Miu Miu and Balenciaga this year what I would call 'the Jane Birkin effect' occurred: large handbags filled with keys, trinkets, personal belongings (even with shoes dangling) that reminded me of Jane Birkin’s famous Hermes bags, which were often filled to the brim and decorated with keys, chains and trinkets.”
Birkin reportedly came up with the design while sitting next to Jean-Louis Dumas, CEO of Hermès, on a plane. At the time, he had sketched a design on the back of a paper bag to intrigue Dumas. The Birkin bag is now one of the most coveted bags in the world, and celebrities like the Olsen twins are often photographed around New York City randomly sporting the bags, using them as Birkin intended.
