FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 6
Hermes Birkin 20 Faubourg Sellier 'Midnight'
Hermès turned the lights off on its own Paris storefront: a 20-centimeter Birkin in black alligator and black leather, where the only color left is the glow of three yellow windows under orange awnings.
- Year
- 2022
- Maker
- Hermes
- By price in handbags
- 6 of 100
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- Hermès, Paris
- Introduced
- 2021, alongside the Snow, as a new colorway of the 2019 Birkin Faubourg
- Model
- Birkin 20 Faubourg, Sellier construction
- Inspiration
- The Hermès flagship at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, seen at night
- Leathers
- Black matte alligator, black Madame calfskin, black Sombrero, Swift
- Windows and awnings
- Jaune Swift windows under Orange H Swift awnings
- Hardware
- Black PVD (So Black)
- Reported retail
- About $30,000
- Highest stated auction price
- About $211,000, March 2025
The flagship after dark
Hermès has occupied 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris since 1880. In 2019 it turned the building into a handbag: the Birkin Faubourg, a Birkin 20 whose front reproduces the boutique's façade in leather, with three windows, orange awnings and stonework. It was the first time the house had translated its storefront into a bag and the first Birkin made in the 20 centimeter size.
The first two versions were Day, in browns and gold, and Night, in deep blues. In 2021 Hermès added two more: Snow, in gray alligator and white leather, and Midnight, which is the subject of this page.
Midnight takes the Night idea further. Every structural leather is black, so the façade reads as a building after closing time, with only the windows and the awnings still lit. None of the sources consulted for this page names the designer behind the Faubourg concept.
Five leathers, all but two in black
One detailed listing for a 2022 example describes the construction this way: a body of black Madame calfskin; a front flap, handles and strap of black matte alligator (Alligator mississippiensis); black Sombrero trim; Orange H Swift leather for the awnings, tiret and clochette; and Jaune Swift window panes, with a black chèvre lining and one slip pocket. Another catalog description calls the window leather Jaune Ambre Swift.
The hardware is black PVD, which resellers call So Black: a black metal coating fused to brass. That hardware is the quickest way to tell a Midnight from a Night, which uses palladium.
Like every Faubourg it is built Sellier, with stiff sides, sharp edges and visible stitching, and in place of the usual clochette it carries a miniature Hermès shopping bag. Published measurements vary slightly: one reseller lists 20 by 15 by 10 centimeters, another 20 by 17 by 11 centimeters (8 by 6.5 by 4.5 inches).
From boutique to the auction room
Hermès does not publish how many Faubourgs it makes. Guides describe the quantities as extremely limited and say the bags rarely appear in boutiques; one repeats an unconfirmed rumor of 100 to 250 per colorway. Reported retail for the Midnight is about $30,000, the same as Day and Night; a European guide puts it at about €22,000.
At auction the Midnight has brought many times that. A 2022 example sold at auction in 2023 for $166,800. Another 2022 example sold in Hong Kong in 2024 for $181,000. In March 2025 another Midnight sold at auction for about $211,000. One reseller has listed a new 2022 example with an asking price of $285,000.
Collector guides put Day, Night and Midnight together in a band of roughly $150,000 to $180,000 at auction, well below the Snow, whose full alligator body makes it the most expensive Faubourg. The 2025 result shows the Midnight can break out of that band.
How to identify one
Look for a Birkin 20 in Sellier construction with an all-black façade, three yellow windows, orange awnings and black hardware. A Faubourg with blue walls and palladium is a Night; one with a gray alligator body and white flap is a Snow.
Because of the alligator, resale examples come with CITES documentation for the skin. One new example offered for sale was described with a U date stamp, which the seller identified as 2022, along with the box, dust bag, clochette, lock, two keys, felt and care booklet.
Completing the set
With Day, Night, Snow and Midnight, the Faubourg became a series that collectors try to assemble whole. Hermès kept adding to it: Rainy Days and a graffiti-covered Disco version arrived in 2024, and a Rouge edition was reported the same year.
One auction house says it has sold nearly $4 million of Birkin Faubourg bags since 2021 and more than $5 million of Birkin 20s since 2022.
The numbers
- Size
- Birkin 20; listed as 20 x 15 x 10 cm by one reseller and 20 x 17 x 11 cm (8 x 6.5 x 4.5 in) by another
- Construction
- Sellier
- Body
- Black Madame calfskin
- Flap, handles, strap
- Black matte alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
- Accents
- Black Sombrero; Orange H Swift awnings; Jaune Swift windows
- Lining
- Black chèvre
- Hardware
- Black PVD (So Black)
- Production
- Not disclosed by Hermès; one guide repeats an unconfirmed rumor of 100 to 250 per colorway
Timeline
Thierry Hermès founds the house in Paris.
Hermès moves to 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the building the Faubourg depicts.
Hermès introduces the Birkin Faubourg in Day and Night versions, the first Birkin in size 20.
The Midnight and Snow versions are released.
Hermès makes further Midnight examples, stamped U.
A 2022 Midnight sells at auction for $166,800.
A 2022 Midnight sells at auction in Hong Kong for $181,000.
Hermès adds the Rainy Days and Disco Faubourg colorways.
A Midnight sells at auction for about $211,000.
The world in 2022
The Hunga Tonga undersea volcano erupts, setting off tsunami warnings around the Pacific.
Beijing opens the Winter Olympics, the first city to host both Summer and Winter Games.
Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is assassinated.
Queen Elizabeth II dies after 70 years on the throne.
The world population reaches eight billion.
Hermès reports revenue of €11.602 billion, up from €8.962 billion in 2021.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $166,800 | Sold at auction2022 Birkin 20 Faubourg Midnight Sellier, matte alligator, black PVD. Sold at auction; city not stated. |
| 2024 | $181,000 | Sold at auction2022 example: black matte alligator, black Madame and Sombrero, Orange H, Jaune Ambre Swift, black PVD. Sold at auction in Hong Kong. |
| Mar 2025 | $211,000 | Sold at auctionMidnight Faubourg Birkin 20 Sellier, black PVD. Reported as $211K; bag year and city not stated. |
| 2026 | $285,000 | Asking price, not a saleReseller asking price for a new 2022 (U stamp) example, seen 2026 with the listing marked sold out. |
A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.
By reference price, Hermes Birkin 20 Faubourg Sellier 'Midnight' is number 6 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (6 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The black hardware is not paint: it is a metal coating fused to brass by PVD.
- The only color on the bag is in the windows and awnings, as if the store were lit at night.
- The Faubourg was the first Birkin made in the 20 centimeter size.
- Every Faubourg swaps the usual leather clochette charm for a miniature Hermès shopping bag.
- The building it depicts has housed Hermès since 1880.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026