3 stories to remember Jane Birkin by

9:22Jane Birkin's lasting impact on music and fashion

British-French singer, actor and fashion icon Jane Birkin died on Sunday at 76 years old. To illustrate her far-reaching cultural impact, Vogue writer and fashion journalist Mosha Lundström Halbert joined host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to share stories of Birkin's lasting legacy.

For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

Why Je t'aime...Moi non plus got banned

As it turns out, there's "a lot of lore" surrounding Birkin's involvement with Serge Gainsbourg's song Je t'aime...Moi non plus, says Lundström Halbert.

Gainsbourg was the French equivalent of Bob Dylan at the time. He was compelled by French style icon Brigitte Bardot to write her a love song.

"And did he ever," says Lundström Halbert. "He took love and kind of intertwined it with lust, and they recorded it. Apparently it was a very hot and heavy recording session.

"But her husband was none too pleased when he found out they had done this, and she begged Serge not to release the song. So, I think he knew he had a hit on his hands."

Sometimes the best things in our culture are the ones that cause controversy or that are restricted.- Mosha Lundström Halbert

From there, the story goes that Gainsbourg set about finding the right voice with which to present the song to the public, which he found in Birkin. The song caused a sensation to the point that it was banned in multiple countries.

"It's one of those [songs] that I think, when we look back on the song, even in today's day and age it would still cause a controversy," says Lundström Halbert.

"Expressions of female pleasure are very controversial and hit a nerve with people. I think that because it was so overt and sexual, and Jane Birkin was quite young and Serge Gainsbourg was this older, iconic figure — even though it was a hit, a lot of people took issue with it."

The origin of the Birkin bag

"Like a lot of things in her life, it seemed like she just followed a path and stayed true to herself — and then really magical things would happen," says Lundström Halbert.

In the early '80s, Birkin ended up by chance sitting next to Jean-Louis Dumas, the president of Hermès, on a flight. In chatting about her needs as a young mother while juggling the worlds of French cinema, music and fashion, they decided to design a bag that would serve every purpose.

Like a lot of us women, [she] wanted to carry all of her belongings with her at all times — because we like to be prepared for everything, and we're constant multitaskers.- Mosha Lundström Halbert

The Birkin bag stood out amongst other Hermès bags on the market at the time.

"If you think about the Kelly bag," she explains, "which is the other super-famous Hermès bag, it's very trim. It's very proper. It was carried by Grace Kelly, a member of the royal family, to all these engagements. Whereas the Birkin bag just overfloweth with all of Jane Birkin's paraphernalia."

While the bag is treated as a moniker of wealth today, Lundström Halbert would like to see more Birkin bag owners embrace the concept behind it.

"I really hope that people get back to that essence of what the Birkin bag is meant to be about. It's not meant to be that kind of status symbol. It's meant to kind of push against that, and be a real piece of practicality."

Her relationship with beauty

Lundström Halbert says Birkin was one of the first women to popularize the idea of wearing trends like higher hemlines and lower necklines with simplicity.

"She was kind of the queen and the originator of high-low. It was never just very sexy and glamorous; she'd pair it with a basket bag or with a flat Mary Jane shoe. She really maintained this balance of charming and quite seductive."

She says that some of Birkins most famous looks can still be seen in fashion trends today.

"A lot of the most famous photos of her — flash photographers have made her dress completely sheer, and you can see things like her nipples and her underwear. Rihanna and the like do all the time now, but then that was quite shocking."

Where Birkin doesn't get enough credit, perhaps, is the way she came into her own beauty later in life.

"Another thing that I think we need to extrapolate and learn from the life and times of Jane Birkin is she wanted to evolve and allow herself to age gracefully in a world and in a society that puts so much pressure on women to stay young … when it isn't something that we have any control over."

I think that she saw herself really becoming the woman that she was meant to be later in life, when she wasn't so defined by the men in her life.- Mosha Lundström Halbert

Lundström Halbert says Birkin subverted the idea of holding onto her identity as a beauty symbol of the '60s and '70s, instead feeling most fully actualized and authentic in her 40s onward.

"I saw her perform once in Toronto in the 2000s," says Lundström Halbert, "and she had this way about her. She was just in a big baggy cashmere sweater and cargo pants, but the innate elegance and confidence that this woman exuded was really something to behold.

"It left an impression on me, and I think a lot of women, of what it means to age in the public eye and not be a slave to your youth."

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Mosha Lundström Halbert produced by Ty Callender.