As the ‘Birkin Boyfriends’, Liam Innes and James Hennessy have established themselves as internet sensations since they became the go to influencers in high-end, luxury handbags.
Take a look at the couple’s ‘Angelllboys’ Instagram page and it’s easy to believe that here are two privileged members of the well-heeled aristocracy, straight out of public school, living just off Chelsea’s Kings Road.
The impeccably dressed couple, often seen flaunting a Birkin or mini Kelly Crocodile bag, love to show off their wealth and frequently boast about staying in five-star hotels, taking trips to Paris and Lyon as well as spending obscene amounts of money on champagne.
With their baby-faced good looks, sharp suits and beautifully coiffed hair, the boys like to ‘hang out at the Ritz’ and have built up an army of followers showing off their, on the face of it, enviable and ostentatious lifestyle.
Their millions of less wealthy followers can only look on, green with envy as James and Liam claim to have spent £900 on a spoon, £106 on a loaf or an eye-watering £54 on a chocolate.
They apparently think nothing of splashing £1,050 on a glass of champagne – or paying £115 for a presumably very comfy pair of socks.
The influencers once even claimed to have shut down Tiffany’s in New York for a few hours so Liam could buy a £65,000 necklace.
So, you would be forgiven for thinking that these two were quite literally born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
Liam Innes and James Hennessy have established themselves as internet sensations since they became the go to influencers in high-end, luxury handbags
The impeccably dressed couple, often seen flaunting a Birkin or mini Kelly Crocodile bag, love to show off their wealth and frequently boast of staying in five-star hotels and taking trips to Paris
They apparently think nothing of splashing £1,050 on a glass of champagne – or paying £115 for a presumably very comfy pair of socks
The truth is not much at all is known about their backgrounds. Indeed they have seemingly gone to great lengths to conceal their identities. They only ever use their first names and have a single, joint Instagram account.
But scratch beneath the surface of their jet-set lifestyle and things are rather different.
Far from the gilded streets of Chelsea, Kensington or Paris, the two characters who are establishing themselves as the voice in luxury handbags are from rather more humble beginnings.
Now the Mail can reveal that both James and Liam grew up just a short drive from each other in Lancashire.
Liam, 29, is the younger of the two men and was brought up in a £180,000 semi-detached house owned by his parents Alicia, 51, and Stuart, 54, on a quiet cul-de-sac in the gritty industrial town of Leyland, near Preston, stuck in a rut since its once booming motor factory shut down.
At a glance engineer Stuart’s Facebook page gives a glimpse into his upbringing and shows his life is a world away from the one his son is trying to portray.
In a post at odds with his son’s gilded lifestyle and background, Stuart lists a ‘job lot’ of caravan equipment he is trying to sell; a five litre water hog for sale for £20 and towing mirrors for £35 to name a few.
After leaving his local comprehensive school, Liam worked at Selfridges in Manchester.
Twelve miles down the road from the Innes family home, James, now 36, was brought up by his mother Katrina, in a bungalow in the village of Freckleton near Lytham St Annes.
Liam Innes and James Hennessy pictured with a luxury Hermes Birkin bag, which has another high-end product inside it
Their social media posts suggest a life of luxury but the truth is not much at all is known about their backgrounds and they have seemingly gone to great lengths to conceal their identities
Far from the gilded streets of Chelsea or Kensington or Paris, the two characters who are establishing themselves as the voice in luxury handbags are from rather more humble beginnings
Fun-loving Katrina – whose Facebook contains pictures of her wearing an apron with two fried eggs as breasts and one of her playing air guitar – and James’s father Michael separated some years ago. Michael lives with James’s stepmother in Northampton. Katrina didn’t want to speak to the Mail when approached this week.
Both men were raised in close-knit families, although conspicuously none of their relatives appear on their social media.
So just how do the boys fund their ‘extravagant’ lifestyle?
One theory is that one or both of them are employed by Lilac Blue, a Hermes buyer and seller based in west London.
Lilac Blue has refused to confirm, but they have done interviews for the bag retailer’s website and tag the company in their videos.
Both men have done Q&A sessions on how to spot a Birkin bag or the best places to sell them.
And it has led followers to question whether they are employed as sales associates at Lilac Blue, giving them access to a huge range of Hermes bags they claim to have in their possession.
It is unclear exactly when the two men met – they told Nylon magazine two years ago they had been together for almost a decade after ‘regularly bumping into each other at the Ritz’.
However, a few months ago they claimed they had been together for 15 years.
And for a decade, James and Liam said they had no social media.
It was only after strangers started approaching them on the street or while they were on holiday to complement their style and ask if they could follow them on Instagram they decided to launch their account two years ago.
In one of their first videos, the couple are seen wearing matching cream suits to ‘venture out for an afternoon tea to celebrate the King’s Coronation’ with James holding a JW Anderson pigeon clutch bag that costs £650.
Liam, at 29 the younger of the two men, was brought up in his parents’ £180,000 semi-detached house on a quiet cul-de-sac in the gritty industrial town of Leyland, near Preston
Liam’s parents Stuart and Alicia, pictured – Alicia didn’t want to speak to the Mail but his father’s Facebook profile revealed the truth of Liam’s upbringing
Stuart lists a ‘job lot’ of caravan equipment he is trying to sell; a five litre water hog for sale for £20 and towing mirrors for £35 to name a few
After quickly gaining over 100,000 followers in the space of a few months, the ‘Birkin boyfriends’, as they are sometimes referred to, collaborated with the Jonas Brothers to make a few dance videos together.
When asked by a TikToker about their rise to fame, Liam said: ‘We loved luxury fashion so much and we hadn’t had social media for over 10 years [before this] so this is a really new adventure for us.’
James added in another interview that year: ‘We just love old Hollywood movies and the way the guys dressed. It’s dreamy and it’s entertaining and it’s just beautiful to look at.’
The account was intended to show off the couple’s expertise in luxury fashion, such as their knowledge of the Hermes Birkin and Crocodile Kelly bags, but it soon began encompassing other aspects of their so-called lifestyle, such as their luxury trips around Europe.
Throughout their videos, there is no trace of northern accents as they show off about staying at the Regent Carlton Hotel in Cannes where rooms are sold for up to £1,000 per night.
Giving a clue that the couple may not actually be living the lifestyle they portray the pair joked they were one of the bidders for the original Hermes Birkin bag created for and owned by the late actess Jane Birkin.
It sold earlier this month for £8.6million in a private auction.
Twelve miles down the road from the Innes family home, James, now 36, was brought up by his mother Katrina, in a bungalow in the village of Freckleton near Lytham St Annes
Fun-loving Katrina – whose Facebook contains pictures of her wearing an apron with two fried eggs as breasts and James’s father Michael separated some years ago
Another picture showed her playing air guitar – Michael lives with James’s stepmother in Northampton
The ‘Angelllboys’ pretended – with a touch of satire – that they were off to bid ‘Jade’s’ Birkin bag in Paris using their supposedly ‘unlimited budget’.
They later pretended they had won the bid but continued to refer to the item as ‘Jade’s Birkin’ suggesting it was all a bit of a joke.
Angry followers commented on their video ‘I think this is all a wind up. Who is Jade?’ while another said, ‘This is the closure I needed. Now I know this account is 100 per cent satire, thanks!’
Whether the account exaggerates their day-to-day life or it’s all an act the pair have used their growing online accounts to help launch their own tote bag company.
The cotton tote bags which read ‘My other bag is a Birkin’ sell for £22 while the ‘Boyfriend sunglasses’ sell for £25.
Who knows, if their new venture takes off, this time next year the boys could really afford to shut down Tiffany’s to shop in private.
