British actress Jane Birkin poses during a photocall at the 66th Venice Film Festival September 7, 2009. (Reuters)
British singer Jane Birkin has asked Hermes to take her name off the crocodile-skin versions of the iconic Birkin handbag, after being contacted by animal rights group PETA over "cruel" slaughtering practices.
A PETA video from June shows several reptiles at a Texas farm that supplies crocodile skins to Hermes left twitching in a bloody ice container to die after being shot with a captive bolt gun and cut with a knife.
Birkin said in a statement obtained Wednesday that she was "alerted to the cruel practices ... to make Hermes handbags carrying my name" and has "asked Hermes to debaptize the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place."
The Birkin bag was created in 1984 by Hermes in honor of the famed singer and ex-girlfriend of Serge Gainsbourg, and is, still today, one of the world's most exclusive luxury items.
The bag is beloved by stars such as Victoria Beckham and comes in calf, ostrich, lizard as well as crocodile. It can cost between $10,000 and over $100,000, with waiting lists to buy it famously stretching into the years.
PETA said it takes three crocodile belly skins to make one handbag. In their expose, at the Lone Star Alligator Farms in Winnie, Texas, PETA shows abattoir employees referring to live crocodiles and alligators as "watch straps."
Contacted by The Associated Press, Hermes said it "respects and shares (Birkin's) emotions" and was "shocked by the images recently broadcast." An investigation, it says, is underway.
While the fashion powerhouse acknowledges that the Texas farm supplies it with crocodile skins, Hermes says they aren't used specifically for the Birkin bag. Hermes also uses croc for watchstraps and other bags.
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