The Onion may have been ahead of its time when it published this headline back in 2017: “Louis Vuitton Releases New Line Of Designer Leather Freezer Bags.”
In a strange bit of life imitating comedy, Louis Vuitton is now selling a series of handbags designed to resemble plastic freezer bags. They will cost you nearly $4,000.
The bags themselves are made of leather, not plastic, but the trompe l’oeil effect could have fooled us. Coated in silver, one of the bags features a hyper-realistic print of Louis Vuitton’s monogrammed Handle Soft Trunk bag, which appears next to an apple. Another shows the Sac Plat with a crumbly croissant set casually atop what is surely very expensive leather. The optical illusions bring to mind a Russian nesting doll. Or a very light lunch.
Perhaps Louis Vuitton is simply trying to catch the wave of the bag-on-bag trend (see this one from Maison Margiela). Or maybe the brand wanted to contribute its own creation to expensive designer accessories that mimic a cheap way to store groceries, like this nearly $2,000 brown paper bag from Bottega Veneta that isn’t actually made of paper, or Balenciaga’s $2,000 Ikea bag dupe.
Either way, the bag seems to play into fashion trends that emphasize the intersection between informality and style. Maybe #grocerystorecore will be the next hashtag to start popping up in your TikTok feed.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the final deadline, June 7.
Sign up for Brands That Matter notifications here.
