Balenciaga's latest It-bag looks a lot like Thailand's humble shopping tote
In 2006, the house of Louis Vuitton found itself in the news for the wrong reasons when then creative director Marc Jacobs sent models out on the runway toting a checked shopping bag that resembled the Chinese migrant worker's travel tote.
For the record, the Louis Vuitton bag retailed for $600 while the bag that inspired it cost only $5 a pop.
Fast forward a decade later, and it looks like another French luxury brand has made the same faux pas.
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During the recent Paris Fashion Week, fashion editors and style mavens gathered to watch Balenciaga's Autumn/Winter 2016-17 show by Alexander Wang's successor Demna Gvasalia.
As the models strutted down the runway dressed to the nines with oversized multi-coloured striped totes slung over their shoulders, there was a sense of deja vu. Those bags look a lot like Thailand's "rainbow bag."
Commonly known as the "sampheng bag," the Thai version costs less than a dollar and is a common sight in Thailand's myriad wholesale markets. The bag is favoured by merchants and shoppers for its ability to fit plenty of stuff as well as its ease of transporting around.
Upon spotting the uncanny similarity, Thai netizens immediately jumped at the chance to show off their new It-bag, without the same Balenciaga price tag.
While many Thais are seeing the humour in the lookalikes, some are also concerned that if they ever traveled to Europe carrying a sampheng, they could get into trouble for carrying a fake luxury bag.
These concerns have reached the higher ups, which led to the Department of Intellectual Property Thailand to release a statement at a press conference on Tuesday.
The department's director-general Nantawan Sakunkarn reassured the Thai public that they can continue carrying their samphengs, even overseas. She went on to elaborate that there's little chance of the Balenciaga bag being mistaken for the sampheng and vice versa because the materials are obviously different.
"The rainbow bag has been used in Thailand for a long time. It's not illegal to carry it to Europe as it's not a copycat," said Sakunkarn."If one intends to copy, the material, pattern, shape and colour must be the same."
So, is this another case of imitation is the best form of flattery?
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