the jane birkin effect
The unanimous ‘Cool Girl’ of the late 60s and early 70s, Jane Birkin was the touch of raw beauty that stood out in a crowd. For her, fashion was just another part of easy living — an effortless style sought after by generations of young women who wished to live and love the way she did.
A
t VIM Magazine this autumn, we salute Ms. Birkin as the inspiration for a resurgence of refined, elegant style with a touch of that timeless late 60s groove. Against the silhouette of a war-torn London, a city brought to its knees by violence and bombings, Jane Birkin symbolized a generation of youthful exuberance. The 1960s were an era within which the micro-hemline
88
and designer Mary Quant ruled the young woman’s dress, yet Birkin stood indifferent. She was relatively unknown, in stark contrast to the other icons of London’s 60s fashion scene, such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton. She was a young British actress and singer praised for her performances in provocative French films. Her infamous presence in the French fashion sphere helped refine Birkin in her mastery of such laissez-faire style.
