Singer and actress Jane Birkin has passed away

(Patria) - Singer and actress Jane Birkin died at the age of 76, French media reported.

The Anglo-French star, who inspired the designer Hermès Birkin bag, was found in her home in Paris by a caregiver, BFMTV reported.

She was born in London as the daughter of David Birkin, a captain in the British Royal Navy, and actress Judy Campbell.

Birkin began her career as an actress. She first achieved success in Michelangelo Antonioni's film, Blow Up, and gained international attention through her on-screen and off-screen relationship with Serge Gainsbourg, one of the greatest songwriters of French chanson.

The couple met while working together on the 1969 French satirical romantic comedy Slogan, and released their joint debut album the same year.

The album featured the then quite scandalous, explicit song Je t'aime…moi non plus, which reached number one on the British music charts and brought the couple a level of fame that was rare at the time. After their separation in 1980, Birkin continued her solo work, both in film and music, but Serge continued to write songs for her.

She performed until 2020 when she broke her shoulder and had to cancel several concerts. In September 2021, she suffered a stroke.

At the height of her fame in the 1970s, she was a global fashion icon, so the luxury brand Hermès named their now most famous handbag after her – the Hermès Birkin. The idea for the bag came to Jean-Louis Dumas in 1981, then head of the Hermès house.

On a plane, he met the famous Jane, who complained about the structure and shape of her handbag. Three years later, the first Birkin bag was created, which delighted people around the world and became a status symbol. Today, it is the most expensive handbag in the world.