French luxury brand Balenciaga has launched a bag resembling a waste disposal bag. Made from lightweight and durable materials, it is a 'luxury' item engraved with the brand's name and logo, but its price of 1.5 million won has drawn perplexed reactions in online communities and social media.
According to the British Daily Mail and The Times on the 25th (local time), Balenciaga started pre-orders for the 'Marshé Packable Tote Bag' in 'Medium Blue', which is a men's tote bag, earlier this month.
This bag is one of the new items featured in Balenciaga's winter 2025 season collection. It measures 50 cm in width and 52.8 cm in height and has handles for easy carrying.
It closely resembles the shape of the plastic bags used for purchasing items in stores. The front of the actual product features the Balenciaga logo, brand name, the address of the official Balenciaga website, and the address of the store in Paris, France.
Unlike typical plastic bags made from polyethylene (PE), Balenciaga used polyamide, a synthetic fiber represented by nylon, and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) for this bag. It is known to be the strongest plastic material available in terms of weight and impact resistance.
Balenciaga noted that this bag can hold a laptop weighing up to 10 kg, and it also features an internal pocket where the bag can be folded and stored.
The official website lists the selling price of this bag at $995 (about 1.38 million won), while the price on the domestic website is 1.49 million won. The country of manufacture is Italy.
As this product spread through social media, various reactions have emerged, according to foreign media. The design, imitating a plastic bag, has been met with criticism for its outrageous price.
This is not the first time Balenciaga has introduced absurd products inspired by everyday items. In 2022, Balenciaga launched a 'Trash Pouch' inspired by garbage bags priced in the 2 million won range. Models walking the runway while holding crumpled plastic bags resembled people heading to a recycling station with waste disposal bags, which sparked discussions on social media.
Additionally, a clutch bag that directly imitates a potato chip bag, a bracelet resembling transparent tape one might find in a stationery store, and a coffee cup-shaped clutch bag priced at 8 million won are also among Balenciaga's products.