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Hermes said it had identified an "isolated irregularity" in
the slaughter process at a crocodile farm in Texas and had
warned the farm it would cease any relations should it continue
to neglect its recommended procedures.
"Jane Birkin has advised us that she is satisfied by the
measures taken by Hermes," Hermes said in a statement. Birkin
could not immediately be reached for comment.
Birkin said in July she had asked Hermes to rename its Birkin
Croco bag until the firm adopted what she said were practices
that meet international standards for the production of the bag.
Birkin had signed actor Joaquin Phoenix's Mercy For Animals
petition to "shed exotic skins from your wardrobe" in protest
against the "millions of reptiles slaughtered each year and
turned into shoes, handbags, belts and other accessories".
Her decision came after she saw a video released by People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, narrated by Phoenix,
showing how live reptiles were skinned or sawed open on farms
that supplied luxury brands.
Birkin agreed to lend her name to the bag after sharing a flight
with the charismatic Jean-Louis Dumas, late head of Hermes, in
the 1980s.
The crocodile Birkin and the Kelly bag, named after actress
Grace Kelly, are among the most sought-after luxury goods - even
though the starting retail price is more than 20,000 euros
($22,096) - partly because shops routinely run out of them.
(Reporting by Michel Rose and Pascale Denis Editing by Jeremy
Gaunt)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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