Balenciaga's $1,800 Lay's Potato Chips Purse Entertains the Internet - Newsweek

The net is having a tract time aft luxury marque Balenciaga unveiled a clutch that imitates a container of Lay's murphy chips.

The manner house's latest eyebrow-raising accessory is simply a collaboration with Frito-Lay and reported to travel with a terms tag of $1,800, according to Hypebeast. The Potato Chip Bag Clutch comes successful yellow, red, greenish and blue, mimicking the graphics of the snack's assorted flavors. "Balenciaga" branding volition regenerate spirit names, but otherwise, the shiny, crinkly-textured purse could easy beryllium mistaken for a existent container of chips.

Although it looks similar plastic, the handbag is made of leather with a metallic metallic lining and zip closure astatine the top. It made a runway debut successful Balenciaga's "The Mud Show" presumption during Paris Fashion Week earlier this period and is expected to deed the marketplace successful the summertime of 2023.

"Balenciaga wants $1,800 for this container that looks similar chips?" said manner blogger Amber Kemp-Gerstel successful a TikTok video with implicit 470,000 views connected Thursday. "Nine times retired of 10, you slap a logo connected something, motion maine up...but this time, no, we're not doing it."

Holding up a container of Lay's classical murphy chips, she said, " I bought these for $2.29, truthful you cognize what we're going to do? We're going to marque it."

The blogger proceeded to show however viewers could recreate the costly clutch with an existent container of chips. After removing her snack's terms tag with nail polish remover, she chopped a consecutive borderline connected the top, trimmed some sides of the bag, protected it with iron-on vinyl and added a zipper and concatenation strap—while enjoying the chips successful between.

Alexis Nido-Russo, the CEO of jewelry marque Local Eclectic, joined successful panning the container connected TikTok.

"People are gonna deliberation this is simply a joke, but I request you to cognize that I americium dormant superior erstwhile I archer you that I conscionable picked up the latest it-bag from Balenciaga astatine Walgreens," said Nido-Russo, holding up a family-size container of chips.

Here, Frito-Lay murphy spot snacks successful a New York supermarket connected Thursday, February 12, 2015. Balenciaga's latest eyebrow-raising purse looks conscionable similar a container of murphy chips. Richard Levine / Contributor/Corbis News

On Twitter, Dominic Lavoie summed up a scope of emotions expressed by the internet's manner observers.

"Balenciaga releasing a [Lay's] murphy spot container with [their] sanction connected it for $1,800 is rather perchance the astir preposterous, perplexing, puzzling, befuddling, bewildering, dumbfounding, stunning, jarring, hornswaggling, and downright confusing happening I've ever seen this year," helium wrote.

Balenciaga has a reputation for mystifying the net with viral designs. Earlier this year, its "Trash Pouch"—a drawstring accessory inspired by a garbage bag—met a skeptical absorption connected societal media aft debuting astatine $1,790 apiece.

The marque was besides roasted implicit a brace of $1,850 sneakers that came wholly destroyed. The shoes made of "full destroyed fabric and rubber" were deliberately battered with tears, stains and discoloration.

And successful 2021, the manner location came retired with arguable items including a $1,190 brace of sagging sweatpants and $1,000 Crocs stilettos.

Newsweek reached retired to Balenciaga for comment.