IT GIRL

Remembering Jane Birkin, the actress, singer, and style setter.

Born in London, Birkin (1946-2023) was the daughter of a respected actress and a successful businessman. She received a typical education for the time, including a short stay at a Parisian finishing school, but the 1960s “Youthquake,” with England setting trends in music and fashion, was a bigger influence. As journalist Meltzer notes in this nuanced biography, Birkin eagerly adopted new styles, adding her own touches, most famously a Portuguese basket used as a handbag. She followed her mother’s footsteps and became an actress, finding roles in trendy movies like Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 thriller, Blow-Up. At 17 she met and married film composer John Barry, 13 years her senior. But the marriage fell apart in 1967—four months after she gave birth to a daughter, Kate. Going to Paris for an audition, she met Serge Gainsbourg, the notoriously louche actor, director, and musician. They worked together in film and music, most famously recording the song “Je t’aime…moi non plus,” which generated shock waves with its aural simulation of sex. Their relationship, which included the birth of Birkin’s second daughter, Charlotte—the future actor and singer—lasted until 1980, when she left Gainsbourg for director Jacques Doillon. Beyond appearing in more than 70 films, captivating audiences with an “unforgettable face,” Birkin was “the real version of an often-overused term: a fashion icon,” Meltzer writes. “She maintained a fierce dedication to her own aesthetic that has charmed and inspired for decades. She is the reason why high-waisted denims with flared hems, fluttery white peasant blouses, Repetto ballet flats, crocheted dresses, and woven baskets as handbags are still worn today; why the French girl style proliferates. She is carefree elegance personified.”

An affectionate and appealing account of the young Englishwoman who became a French icon.