Clear signs of a counterfeit Birkin, according to a vintage luxury expert

• A vintage expert with 20 years of experience says there are clear signs that you can spot a fake Hermès Birkin.
• She said there are things counterfeiters don’t think about that can help spot counterfeits.
• Here’s what to look for when choosing a vintage Birkin.

This essay is said to be based on a conversation with Koyaana Redstar, head of luxury purchasing at the company Suite Du Jourluxury online boutique for vintage designer bags. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I worked as a nanny in college in Los Angeles and supplemented my income by visiting Goodwill stores, finding designer bags at low prices, and then selling them on eBay or, at the time, Poshmark.

I liked it and thought, I want to turn this into a real job.

My mom told me that in New York there is nothing better than the fashion industry. She said, “You need to go to New York.” And I replied: “Yes, you’re right, it is.”

As soon as I finished, I was there. In New York City, I worked in a consignment store where I gained hands-on experience selling items from high-end luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Chanel.

Since then I have worked at Rebag, The RealReal and other vintage stores and have 20 years of experience in the resale industry.

I’ve learned strategies that help me identify specific features of luxury bags, from their model to their configuration, just by looking at the item.

For me, the Hermès Birkin and Kelly are perhaps the most iconic bags in fashion. They are classic and hold their value more than any other bag.

Here are tips on how to tell if the vintage Birkin you’ve been eyeing is authentic.

Zipper pulls

One of the things that counterfeiters don’t often get right is the zipper. For some reason, most counterfeiters don’t take the time and effort to get it right.

Zipper inside Hermès Birkins and Kelly’s are some of the biggest gifts.

On some counterfeits, when the word “Hermès” is pressed into the zipper, it appears almost bubbly, with a protrusion along the edge of each letter.

You won’t see this on genuine Hermès items, which will have crisp, clean lettering on the zippers.

Lightning arresters

There’s also a zipper stopper that’s shaped like an H. Hermès changed it in the early 2000s—it used to be a regular stopper, but now it’s shaped like an H.

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If you compare counterfeits to real Hermès bags, you will find that the real deal has a very specific H shape. Counterfeiters will have thick Hs or skinny, tall Hs.

People who make counterfeits often overlook small details, such as the zipper catch, which help experts distinguish genuine items from fakes.

Fonts

Another thing that counterfeiters can’t get 100% right are fonts, specifically how they are engraved on the hardware.

Luxury experts can tell the difference between the real thing and the fake because they’ve spent years studying the fonts on bags and know the common inconsistencies that can occur.

One way to tell if it is a fake is by the green tint of the foil font printed on the bag. This is a sure sign that something is wrong.

Smell

If you own a Hermès Birkin, you know that treating the leather gives it an almost perfumed scent.

But if you smell the bag and it has a heavy leather smell – almost like a shoe store – which is a bad sign.

Hermès doesn’t smell like that. So, if your bag smells too much like leather, that’s a red flag. And if it smells like chemicals, that’s even more of a red flag.

So I started sniffing the bags I was evaluating. I know it looks weird, but sometimes the smell really gives it away.