Left: Birkin in 35cm/ Center: HAC in 32cm/ Right: HAC in 28cm
Check out the crocodile birkins and HAC bags on the Hermes Spring 2008 runway, can you tell which is which? For those of you who are not Hermes aficionados, HAC (Haut a Courrois) was the original birkin before Jane Birkin complained it was too tall to fit under her airplane seat and the handles too small to properly tote on her arm. They shortened and elongated the bag, made the handles longer and called it a Birkin et voila, an instant icon. Here is how you can tell the difference, the HAC handles are tiny and the body is long as opposed to wide, all very subtle differences but a trained eye can spot them a mile a way. They also cost less than the birkin and are much easier to come by.
