The fashion house’s latest eyebrow-raising accessory is a collaboration with Frito-Lay and reported to come with a price tag of $1,800, according to Hypebeast. The Potato Chip Bag Clutch comes in yellow, red, green and blue, mimicking the graphics of the snack’s various flavors. “Balenciaga” branding will replace flavor names, but otherwise, the shiny, crinkly-textured purse could easily be mistaken for a real bag of chips.
Although it looks like plastic, the handbag is made of leather with a metallic silver lining and zip closure at the top. It made a runway debut in Balenciaga’s “The Mud Show” presentation during Paris Fashion Week earlier this month and is expected to hit the market in the summer of 2023.
“Balenciaga wants $1,800 for this bag that looks like chips?” said fashion blogger Amber Kemp-Gerstel in a TikTok video with over 470,000 views on Thursday. “Nine times out of 10, you slap a logo on something, sign me up…but this time, no, we’re not doing it.”
Holding up a bag of Lay’s classic potato chips, she said, " I bought these for $2.29, so you know what we’re going to do? We’re going to make it."
The blogger proceeded to demonstrate how viewers could recreate the expensive clutch with an actual bag of chips. After removing her snack’s price tag with nail polish remover, she cut a straight edge on the top, trimmed both sides of the bag, protected it with iron-on vinyl and added a zipper and chain strap—while enjoying the chips in between.
Alexis Nido-Russo, the CEO of jewelry brand Local Eclectic, joined in panning the bag on TikTok.
“People are gonna think this is a joke, but I need you to know that I am dead serious when I tell you that I just picked up the latest it-bag from Balenciaga at Walgreens,” said Nido-Russo, holding up a family-size bag of chips.
On Twitter, Dominic Lavoie summed up a range of emotions expressed by the internet’s fashion observers.
“Balenciaga releasing a [Lay’s] potato chip bag with [their] name on it for $1,800 is quite possibly the most preposterous, perplexing, puzzling, befuddling, bewildering, dumbfounding, stunning, jarring, hornswaggling, and downright confusing thing I’ve ever seen this year,” he wrote.
Balenciaga has a reputation for mystifying the internet with viral designs. Earlier this year, its “Trash Pouch”—a drawstring accessory inspired by a garbage bag—met a skeptical reaction on social media after debuting at $1,790 apiece.
The brand was also roasted over a pair of $1,850 sneakers that came entirely destroyed. The shoes made of “full destroyed cotton and rubber” were deliberately battered with tears, stains and discoloration.
And in 2021, the fashion house came out with controversial items including a $1,190 pair of sagging sweatpants and $1,000 Crocs stilettos.
Newsweek reached out to Balenciaga for comment.
