Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Preparing lunch at home and taking it to the office may be a way to save money, unless it is placed in a lunch bag designed by Pharrell Williams, creative director for men at the Louis Vuitton brand, which exceeds Its price is 3000 dollars.
It appears that music producer and fashion designer Williams, who was appointed to this position at the French luxury fashion house last February, took inspiration from one of his latest designs from the classic paper lunch bag for sandwiches, and reimagined it as a high-fashion accessory.
Model Anna Ewers straps a lunch bag during Pharrell Williams’ premiere for luxury brand Louis Vuitton in Paris, in June 2023.Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images
Instead of paper, the large lunch bag that models carried on the runway, during the presentation of Williams’ first collection at Bonne Neuve in Paris, last June, was made of cowhide. Its color is “similar to the color of the house’s famous (paper) shopping bag,” according to what was stated in the poster.
The comparisons don’t end there. This accessory is meticulously folded to resemble an everyday lunch bag, printed with the iconic Louis Vuitton lettering and a blue tie band, mimicking the handles of the house’s bags, to keep sandwiches, or more likely, something more valuable, safe.
The piece went on sale on January 4 exclusively at the brand’s pop-up store in West Hollywood, priced at $3,130 USD. But this isn’t the first time Louis Vuitton has taken inspiration from everyday (and traditionally less expensive) accessories.
For its Spring/Summer 2007 collection, the fashion house paid tribute to the budget-friendly checkered plastic laundry bags beloved around the world. In 2022, the brand also released a bag with criss-cross stripes similar to a paint can (complete with a metal handle), “decorated with playful nods to Louis Vuitton’s heritage.”
In 2007, Louis Vuitton paid tribute to the humble laundry bag.Credit: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
The paint can bag was designed by the late Louis Vuitton creative director, Virgil Abloh, who in a 2021 interview with design magazine Icon cited artist Marcel Duchamp, famous for transforming everyday objects into art, as one of his heroes.
Other fashion houses have adopted this approach as well: In 2014, designer Ashish Gupta revamped a plastic grocery bag and turned it into a sequined statement piece at a premium price, saying it was “a tribute to everyday life.”
“It may also be a revolt against the disposable nature of fast fashion,” Gupta noted when speaking to CNN in 2017. “It takes a classic, disposable style and turns it into a long-lasting piece, one that can be appreciated outside of its usual context for its timeless design quality.”
But such designs can attract controversy and ridicule. In 2017, Balenciaga released a $2,145 bag that looked exactly like IKEA’s famous blue 99-cent crinkle-cut “Frakta” bag, and it quickly went viral on social media.
