Mirror, Mirror: If Jane Birkin wants nothing to do with her bag, what fashionista will?

When English actress and singer Jane Birkin asked Hermés to remove her name from its iconic crocodile purse last week, the fashion world gasped: Will a Birkin still be a Birkin without its namesake's blessing?

Birkin, 68 and now living in France, made the announcement after she saw a gruesome video released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that showed crocodiles being slaughtered for their skins. (I had to turn it off after four minutes.)

PETA says the farms in the video - one in Texas, the other in Zimbabwe - are the exclusive providers of crocodile skins used to make Hermés' Kelly and Birkin handbags, as well as watchbands and wallets.

Hermés said it wasn't connected to those crocodile farms at all.

Either way, the incidents - PETA's video and the Birkin backlash - will help contribute to the recalibration the fashion world has been experiencing for the last five years.

Still, the shift remains subtle - especially in the high-end market.

With a starting price for a Birkin Croco at more than $100,000 (a used one is well over $30,000), these bags are carried by the richest tastemakers in the world, from Beyoncé to Victoria Beckham, and the many anonymous millionaires in between. Carrying a croc Birkin is like having a BMW M6 convertible nestled under your arm. There were waiting lists to get one.

When Birkin - who, like Grace Kelly, had a Hermés bag named for her in the 1980s because of her fashion icon status - expressed her wishes to be disassociated from the bag, the high-priced luxury market was faced with a new kind of dilemma. Until recently, it was exclusively driven by the sentiment as long as it looks good . . .

That said, it's likely Hermés won't remove the Birkin name from its croc bag. (Or the other skins it comes in, like ostrich and cowhide.) After all, Hermés owns the rights to the Birkin name.

But damage has been done. If Birkin herself doesn't want anything to do with the industry's most highfalutin item, what fashionista would?

"Thanks to social media, there is a higher level of consciousness and responsibility that comes with being a high-profile person," said Rob Gregory, CEO of WhoSay, a New York social-media company that manages celebrity profiles and counts Matthew McConaughey and Sofia Vergara as its clients. "Celebrities are going to have to ask themselves, 'Is it worth taking the heat to carry this bag?' "

It's a chink in any brand's carefully constructed armor, but it is another instance of fashion's new era.

Today's shoppers - with millennials leading the pack - make expensive purchases based on the quality of the item and how it fits into their lifestyle and personal ideals.

That is why brands that create values-based items are doing so well with younger generations.

Some are rethinking ways to manufacture in the United States - or better yet, locally (Toggery). Others have built companies as a way to be philanthropic (Warby Parker). And some produce only items that are cruelty-free (Olsenhaus). Poised to become tomorrow's classic, luxury brands, these companies are challenging how fashion traditionally does its business.

Shelly Lesse, owner of Rachelle Boutique & Designer Consignment in Bryn Mawr, resells Birkin bags and vegan-friendly handbags by Stella McCartney. The vegan bags, she says, tend to outsell the exotic skins.

"People are really moving away from these alligator and crocodile bags," Lesse said. "And that is a real shift from just five years ago."

Instead of the Birkin, PETA hopes the luxury handbag shopper would chose a "Virkin" - as in, a vegan Birkin. The bag, a joint project between PETA and Morgan Bogle's Freedom of Animals label, retails for $400 and comes in deep crimson, one of fall's richest hues.

Before the Birkin bag fallout, those with panache and enough cash wouldn't consider a vegan replacement.

But there are so many options for being conscientious and stylish now.

Even the most dedicated fashionista can't help but rethink where she stands - if not for the sake of animals, then for the sake of her Instagram.

215-854-2704@ewellingtonphl