Ikea is 'deeply flattered' by this $2,145 high fashion homage to their humble tote
WYD, fashion? Cheap things that are made to look expensive may be acceptable cultural cache in 2017, but not the other way around.
Hence, the current online laughter in the serious, pouty face of high fashion brand, Balenciaga. They've been selling a certain "bleu sulphate" shopping bag online for $2,145.
It looks uncannily similar to Ikea's iconic plastic tote -- the 99 cent blue FRAKTA bag you use to haul up to 99 gallons of Ikea stuff around the store in, and then sneak home to use for laundry.
The designer version's been sold online for a while, but now the Swedish Kings of DIY flat-pack frustration have spoken, telling Today: "We are deeply flattered that the Balenciaga tote bag resembles the Ikea iconic sustainable blue bag for 99 cents. Nothing beats the versatility of a great big blue bag!"
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And nothing beats the ridiculousness of paying over two grand for something that looks like it costs 99 cents, but who are we to say? We are just mere mortals, incapable of grasping the conceptual brilliance of a trapezoidal carry thing "constructed of blue wrinkled, glazed leather." What does it all mean?
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Let's take a guess and say the haute bourgeoisie are gripped with a perverse fascination with mundane working class symbology that sublimates itself in fetishised consumer objects that will ultimately solidify their class position.
And it also comes in yellow! Just the original Ikea ones.
Oh btw, have you met Balenciaga's other hit, the $2,525 laundry bag? It's been pretty popular with the street style crowd.
If that looks familiar, you might be thinking of the commonly-seen market totes you'd see all over Thailand.
Look, we love ~fashun~ as much as the next. But we also like saving money, so you know. See you at Ikea.
Jerico Mandybur is the editor of Mashable Australia. Previously, she worked as a digital editor at SBS, Oyster Mag, MTV and ASOS. Tweet her at @jerico_m.
