女星Jane Birkin要求愛(ài)馬仕Birkin包改名？

女星Jane Birkin要求愛(ài)馬仕Birkin包改名？

Birkin包（柏金包）是由生產(chǎn)皮革及成衣的制造商愛(ài)瑪仕（Hermès）于1984年推出的一款手提包。這款包是以長(zhǎng)期居住在法國(guó)的英國(guó)歌手簡(jiǎn)·柏金（Jane Birkin）命名的。然而近期Jane Birkin發(fā)布聲明要求愛(ài)馬仕停止使用她的名字，原因是Birkin包使用鱷魚皮制作，而供應(yīng)商殺死鱷魚的過(guò)程十分殘忍。

測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí)：

slaughter 屠宰（動(dòng)物）

alleged 聲稱的

gruesome 可怕的

issue 發(fā)布

implicate 牽涉

Jane Birkin demands Hermès remove her name from crocodile bag（450words）

By Catherine Bennett in Paris

British singer and actress Jane Birkin has demanded that her name be removed from one of luxury brand Hermès' most distinctive handbags.

The Birkin bag,which can command prices of more than ￡40,000,comes in a crocodile leather version,which has led to protests by animal rights activists.

Ms Birkin released a statement on Tuesday evening saying: “Having been alerted to the cruel practices reserved for crocodiles during their slaughter to make Hermès handbags carrying my name,I have asked Hermès to debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place.”

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals（Peta）recently released an exposé into the cruel treatment and slaughter of crocodiles,in which alleged employees of a crocodile farm part-owned by Padenga Holdings in Texas were recorded stating that the farm supplied Hermès. The video then went on to show the crocodiles being killed by various,gruesome means.

Ingrid Newkirk,president and co-founder of Peta,said of Ms Birkin's request: “Peta,on behalf of all kind souls in the world,thanks Ms Birkin for ending her association with Hermès……soon,no one will want to be caught dead carrying one,and animal advocates will then breathe a sigh of relief.”

Hermès?did not respond to a request for comment. According to Reuters,the company issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it was equally “shocked by the images” broadcast.

It denied that the farms portrayed in the video belonged to the group,and promised that “an investigation is under way at the Texas farm which was implicated in the video. Any breach of rules will be rectified and sanctioned.”

The bag was named after a chance meeting on an aeroplane in 1981 between Ms Birkin and Jean-Louis Dumas,Hermès' then-chief executive. He created the Birkin bag in her honour three years later. A fuchsia Hermès Birkin bag was the most expensive handbag ever sold,fetching HK$1.7m（US$222,000）at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong last month.

Hermès reported €4.1bn in revenue last year. Its leather goods and saddlery division,which manufactures the Birkin bag,accounted for 45 per cent of the group's sales in 2014,with a turnover of €1.8m and 15 per cent growth compared with the previous year.

In recent years,luxury manufacturers have been buying up tanneries and crocodile farms over the world in order to secure a supply of the raw materials needed to make their luxury products. It takes up to three crocodiles to make a Birkin bag.