Getting your hands on an authentic designer handbag is not always an easy business. Even if you can justify the price tag, there is often a long waiting list for the most sought-after versions. However, Elle Magazine reports that virtual reality platforms have recently spotted a gap in the market, by offering users the chance to carry a designer bag in the metaverse. 

Even the most famous designer bag of them all, the Birkin handbag, has seen a piece of the action. The cult handbag was originally created for the British born but Paris based actress, Jane Birkin. In 1981, she happened to find herself sat on a plane next to the then Chief Executive of Hermès, Jean-Louise Dumas.

What happened next has been woven into myth and legend, but one version goes that the actress accidently spilled the contents of her bag onto the floor, including her Hermès diary. Dumas suggested that Birkin acquire a bag with pockets suitable to carry all her belongings more securely, and Birkin remarked that such a bag was not to be found.

In a happy creative accident where style, form, and function fuse together, Dumas took out his pocketbook and drew a sketch of the prototype Birkin bag. Contrary to popular belief, it was not an overnight success, but its cult status slowly built up over the following decade, and now they can be worth up to an eye watering £145,000.

In the early 2000s, the bag received the ultimate accolade of being featured in an episode of hit US TV show Sex and the City, when Samantha found herself on a five-year waiting list for the elite status symbol. 

For users desperate to jump the queue, virtual reality offers the chance for an online alter ego to spend the day walking around with a designer bag of their choice, whether that be the classic Birkin, or perhaps a Burberry or Gucci.