Balenciaga $1,800 purse looks like a Lay’s potato chip bag
All that and a bag of chips?
Balenciaga debuted its latest fashion trend at the Summer 2023 “The Mud Show” presentation: Lay’s potato chip handbags.
Instead of spending $4 on a bag of chips, you can now spend $1,800 on a Lay’s chips handbag, according to Hypebeast.
The leather clutch is creative director Demna’s take on the chip bag, and has the graphic of the classic chip bag — just with a subtle “Balenciaga” branding. It also features a metallic silver lining and zipper at the top. The creation was first seen during Paris fashion week when the brand showcased a runway covered in mud, with the help of Kanye West as a model.
The accessory comes in red, green, blue and yellow — the colors of actual Lay’s potato chips bags for different flavors.
While the partnership between the fashion house and the chip brand may seem out of nowhere, similar designs have been found on AliExpress — though it’s unclear if that sparked the inspiration.
Demna, who goes by his first name only, was also recently seen carrying an actual Lay’s chip bag at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts graduate show “as if it were a gorgeous clutch,” according to Dazed.
Demna shared the unexpected collaboration on Instagram, captioning the picture “The Lay’s x Balenciaga leather chip bag.” Lay’s also shared its “runway moment” on social media.
People took to the comments of both Lay’s and Demna’s Instagrams to share their reactions to the “joke” of an accessory.
“The lowest depths of crass commercialism,” one person commented.
“At this point, I think Balenciaga is a social experiment,” another said.
“Leave these stunts to Moschino,” one wrote. “You are losing audience.”
“Made this in girl scouts using iron on laminate. Nostalgic,” someone said.
“This is a joke right?” one disappointed fan wrote. “This is actually a fashion mockery,” another commented.
Others took to Twitter to express their thoughts.
“Balenciaga releasing a [Lay’s] potato chip bag with they name on it for $1800 is quite possibly the most preposterous, perplexing, puzzling, befuddling, bewildering, dumbfounding, stunning, jarring, hornswaggling, and downright confusing thing i’ve ever seen this year,” one person tweeted.
The strange design comes after the fashion house was panned for the “most expensive trash bag in the world” for $1,790, in addition to Kim Kardashian’s caution tape outfit and credit card earrings causing a stir.
“This is up there with their garbage bag bags. At this point, they’re just trolling everyone aren’t they?!” another said.
“Why is balenciaga taken seriously as a brand and who comes up with these things? last week it was mud-pit fashion shows and now potato chip handbags. this has to be some sort of social experiment,” a user tweeted.