Boyfriend Saves Thousands by Making Girlfriend a Hermes Birkin Bag for $400

Luxury handbags with their elaborate designs and attention to detail are often among women's most cherished possessions, but they come at a price that most people can't afford, often costing thousands of dollars.

A man from Bellevue, Washington, recently went viral on TikTok for crafting an entire luxury leather bag from scratch for his girlfriend after she joked she wanted a Hermes Birkin for their anniversary. The result, according to users, was "priceless."

Alexander Sway told Newsweek that after he realized there was no way he could afford a real Hermes bag for his girlfriend, he still wanted to surprise her with her favorite design, so he began extensive research to find out how hard it could be to make one himself.

He said: "Most of these high-quality bags are handmade anyways and I am a very creative and curious spirit. I wanted to challenge myself and also make something meaningful for my partner."

He explained in his viral video that after finding blueprints online, he sourced some good quality black-painted crocodile leather and began crafting his present. He confessed that it was much harder than he thought and he wasted a whole bunch of good leather in the process.

While the price of a real Hermes Birkin handbag is around $100,000, the total cost of the materials according to Sway was about $400 including the wasted leather, and he even had some left over, which he's planning to make "something fun with." The project took about 60 hours in total, and he admitted in his clip that now he understands why the price is so high.

Part 1 - Handmaking a Birkin for my girlfriend #homemade #luxury #hermes #pnw #anniversary

The project was the first of its kind for Sway, who had never worked with leather before, nor had he ever thought of making a handbag.

According to Sway, his girlfriend's reaction at seeing the bag was worth every single hour of work. He said: "I did not do a great job representing my girlfriend in the video. But off camera, she was shocked and surprised.

"She loved the bag and appreciates all the effort and craftsmanship. She even cried a little bit because she appreciated the work. Now whenever we go out to a restaurant or something, she brings it with her! People ask about the backstory which she is happy to tell and the reaction we get the most is that our friends want their partners to make them handmade bags! Their partners respond to me by saying that I'm making their lives a lot harder haha."

And this may not be it for his lucky girlfriend, in fact, after the success of his first handbag, he's planning on making her even more things.

"Now that I don't have to keep it a secret anymore it's much easier to make more bags at home. I thought about making a Kelly next since it's much easier than the Birkin and next time we can pick and choose materials she prefers. or even get a little funky and use upcycled materials like old raincoats and jackets," he said.

His clip, which he originally shared on TikTok earlier in May under the username Liveyoursway, quickly went viral on social media, receiving over 33.6 million views and 2.6 million likes, and while most women are complimenting him, some boyfriends are not too happy about the precedent he has set.

One user, Estepk94, commented: "That's so sweet, she's gonna love it." And Jasmine said: "A king." Yesjaxkie added: "That is dedication, but it's already looking really nice! Can't wait to see what it looks like in the end."

Another user, Urmiddal, wrote: "You da best boyfriend!" And Ivan Ng complained: "bro you're setting the bar too high." Isaac Santiago added: "This purse is now priceless."

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