Three Answers: Michael Tonello
By Dick Donahue -- Publishers Weekly, 4/14/2008 8:11:00 AM
Three Answers from Michael Tonello, whose memoir, Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World’s Most Coveted Handbag, will be published on April 22 by William Morrow.
PW: How would you describe the book’s appeal?
MT: A lot of it has to do with the whole Hermes/Birkin mystique, the notion of a waiting list for years to get the bag; sometimes they say there’s even a waiting list to get on the waiting list. I sort of have proven, over the past five years, that basically the waiting list is a hoax. And I write about that in the book without saying it specifically, because of how many bags I buy—in 2005 I spent $1.6 million buying Birkins. There’s a chapter in the book called “the Formula,” the secret of how to get one of these bags. I think the book’s package of the book is going to attract a certain reader, because of the fashion, the celebrity and the amount of money that these bags cost—they start at about eight or nine thousand dollars. But it’s not just a story about this handbag; it’s a memoir, it’s about a five- or six-year period of my life. It’s also a real testament to the power of the Internet and the power of eBay. I mean 15 years ago I never could have done this. I got global exposure to the wealthy women around the world and all these fashionistas, so within a few months I went from being a little seller on eBay to suddenly having 1,600 private clients who were clamoring for these bags.
PW: With the recent controversy about memoirs not being factual, were you concerned about the book’s details?
MT: From day one when I sat down with my editor we’ve been concerned about the fact that Hermes might come out publicly and say this is a complete fabrication; he bought a few bags, but there’s no way he could have bought $1.6 million worth of bags in one year, blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is that in my dad’s safe deposit box down in Florida I have receipts for nearly all the bags I bought, and matching American Express bills to go with everything. So everything is completely documented. I would love for Hermes to make that kind of claim because we would make them look like complete fools. And of course it would be amazing publicity!
PW: What’s the fascination with the Birkin bags?
MT: It’s definitely a testament to the power of advertising. The bag has become an iconic symbol of celebrity, wealth and power. And it’s one of those situations where what you can’t have is what every-one wants. You see Posh Spice on the cover of all these magazines, and she’s always got a Birkin. You see Katie Holmes in Parade and she’s got a Birkin. Lindsay Lohan had her Birkin stolen at Heathrow Airport last year with a million dollars worth of jewelry in it, and it was all over the news for a week. Everyone keeps hearing about the bags, but the majority of the people who’ve heard about them have never actually seen one; they’re so few and far between because of the way Hermes just slowly doles them out. The fascination boils down to the marketing of the wait list and the bags’ inaccessibilty—also the mystique of the fact that this has been the celebrity “it” bag since 1984. Most companies can only dream about having a bag like that for even a year.
