Don’t Buy Balenciaga’s New Bag, Just Take A Trip To IKEA Instead

Balenciaga isn’t the only label taking inspiration from the Scandi’s. But is this “design”‘downright lazy, or?ingenious?

The Scandinavians have a long-standing relationship with excellent craftsmanship, innovation, and design, but who knew that they would influence one of the world’s biggest fashion houses too? Yes, french fashion power-house Balenciaga are getting ready to release their ss17 collection, and a few bags look very similar to IKEA’s large shopper bag.

Sorry, did we say very similar? We meant exact copy – minus the IKEA logo.

We’ve all heard of designers copy-catting one another in a bid to be the next best thing, but perhaps Balenciaga’s?Demna Gvasalia is in need of a brainstorming session. Or maybe “construction/DIY” will be a trend in months to come. We can see the high-vis vests now. Did we mention that the Balenciaga bag, made from “blue wrinkled, glazed” leather retails for around €2700? Similarly to the ‘Ikea’ bag, Balenciaga’s ss17 collection will also feature a selection of extra-large shopper bags that resemble reusable shopping bags you tend to get at €2 shops. Chances are you or your mum has one lying dormant in a drawer in the house.

This season’s Balenciaga accessories are quite alternative to previous collections, which are usually characterised by power and presence to match the stature of the clothes they’re paired with – normally including’strong’silhouettes?and perhaps slightly menacing attitude. So what’s going on? We’re not too sure but we’re prepared to give Balenciaga another chance.

SPRING SUMMER 17 COLLECTION The Balenciaga Spring Summer 17 Collection is now available for pre-order on Balenciaga.com Visit the new Balenciaga.com. Link in bio. #Balenciaga #SS17

A post shared by Balenciaga (@balenciaga) on Feb 27, 2017 at 7:17am PST

The XL shopper also comes in white

This isn’t the first – and certainly not the last – time that a design house has created collections’drawn from the back of everyday household goods. Last year streetwear label Supreme surprised us all by releasing a limited edition brick (yes; the kind you build a house with) and slapped a €27 price tag on it which is a hefty price considering bricks retail at around ?0.15. What’s the bet that Supreme bosses are sitting on a tonne of money somewhere, laughing at all the millennials buying bricks to sit on their farmers market coffee tables.

And only this week did we learn about Dolce And Gabanna’s move to kitchen appliances, although the fashion house did collaborate on high-end refrigerators last year so we should have seen this coming.?Coming in October, the “Sicily Is My Love” collection includes toasters, citrus juicers, coffee machines, kettles, blenders, stand mixers, and slow juicers, and of course we want them all.

If trend-chasing is what you’re after and you want to recreate Balenciaga’s IKEA “look”, we suggest taking the 140 bus to IKEA and save yourself the cost. But it does make us question: where on earth is fashion going?