Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag - Softcover

Tonello, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061473340 ISBN 13: 9780061473340

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2009

Synopsis

For more than twenty years, the Hermès Birkin bag has been the iconic symbol of fashion, luxury, and wealth. With a fabled waiting list of more than two years to purchase one, the average fashionista has a better chance of climbing Mount Everest in Prada pumps than of possessing this coveted carryall. Unless, of course, she happens to know Michael Tonello. . . .

With down-to-earth wit, Michael Tonello chronicles the unusual ventures that took him to nearly every continent—and from eBay to Paris auction houses and into the lives of celebrities and poseurs alike—on the road to becoming a successful entrepreneur and Robin Hood to thousands of desperate rich women.

About this title

About the Author

Originally from Massachusetts, Michael Tonello traveled the world as a makeup artist and hairdresser before resettling in Spain to become an eBay luxury reseller of all things Hermès. He resides in Barcelona with his partner, Juan.

Review

“Funny, whip-smart. . . . Both a hilarious raid on fashion’s strongholds and a memoir that satisfies like a novel. Fashion die-hards, and many others, will be delighted from beginning to end.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“The one-step, one-stop shop guide to buying a Birkin.” (Huffington Post)

“The one-step, one-stop shop guide to buying a Birkin.” (Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post)

“ [Tonello] reveals the key to scoring that Holy Grail of handbags in a clever memoir.” (Boston Herald)

“In his peppy, addictive memoir . . . [Tonello] details the comical lengths to which he’s gone to snag hundreds of Birkins that he then sells (with a steep mark-up) on eBay.” (moderntonic.com)

“The perfect, fluffy and fun beach read.” (glamour.com)

“A witty and engaging retrospective on [Tonello’s] long career traipsing the globe as a purveyor of the Birkin bag.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

“[A] sunny memoir. . . . The prose is vivid, the tone lighthearted. Mr. Tonello comes off as the fantasy gay best friend immortalized in contemporary women’s fiction: sassy, plucky, optimistic―oh, and he can get you a Birkin.” (Wall Street Journal)

“[A] memoir of . . . madcap travels, triumphs and humiliations. [Tonello] peels back the layers of pretension at the eminent design house. . . . Anyone who’s ever stepped into a luxury boutique and felt the sting of the doorman’s disapproval will find a hero in Tonello.” (Miami Herald)

“Tonello recounts the strange and serendipitous tale of how he went from cleaning out his closet to being one of the busiest Internet resellers of Birkin bags in the world.” (The Globe and Mail)

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061473340
• ISBN 13: 9780061473340
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272