"London streets are no longer safe": influencers panic as Birkins join Rolex and Canada Goose as crime targets
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Hermès handbags were locked in safes at dawn. Janice Joostema, the influencer who boasts 1.2m followers on Instagram and had her Birkin handbag stolen in the VIP changing rooms of a shop on Oxford Street on Tuesday, was lucky. The thief, who was caught on CCTV making off with the “Rouge” shade Hermès Birkin 25 handbag worth upwards of £10,000, did not get physical. Joostema didn’t have her arm yanked out of its socket in Manière De Voir, the “sleek urban” UK-based store, where she was targeted. She didn’t have her coat stolen at knife point, nor her Rolex wrenched off her wrist by a man on a souped-up e-bike.
But the “gut-wrenching” moment, as Joostema has described it, has sent shock waves around the Hermès-bag-wearers of the capital. “Londoners beware,” she broadcast to followers. “Thieves are coming into dressing rooms when they see you turned, they are watching you while you are changing and naked just to steal your belongings.”.
“I’m very conscious of the current London situation when it comes to watches, jewellery, bags, phones — everything really. If I know I’m going to Mayfair, Soho, Piccadilly or Knightsbridge I make sure I’m not wearing anything too flashy,” she continues. “I’m already very careful with what I wear to go to town, but now I will be even more so.”.
![[‘Londoners beware’: Influencer’s warning after brazen Birkin bag theft on Oxford Street]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/12/18/16/34/thumbnail_image0-2024-12-18T161743-941.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
The one-time judge on America’s Next Top Model contines: “Going out of the door in a big, unsafe city such as London or Paris has its risks. There’s not much we can do as the general public other than take safer precautions — the streets are no longer safe!”.
![[The Birkin bag — an evolution of the ultimate fashion status symbol]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2023/07/17/13/Birkin.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
