The £1300 Balenciaga IKEA Bag!
Forget the cheap knock-off versions of designer bags!
Balenciaga flipped this on its head recently with their new Arena Extra-large Shopper Tote Bag, which looks very like Ikea’s big blue shopper. With a price tag of £1300 versus Ikea’s 40p bag there has to be some differences – the main ones being that Balenciaga’s bag is made of leather not plastic, and doesn’t have the Ikea logo of course!
Ikea responded to the designer copy-cat bag story by creating their own very funny guide to check if your bag is an Ikea Frakta original…
- Shake it – if it rustles it’s the real deal
- Multifunctional – it can carry hockey gear, bricks, even water
- Throw it in the dirt – a true Frakta is simply rinsed off with a garden hose when dirty
- Price tag – only 40p!
They told Teen Vogue: “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!”
This isn’t the first time top designers have latched on to a popular household carrier bag to create designer bags that sell for big money. Not too long ago Balenciaga brought out a big leather bag in a flowered blanket print costing a whopping £2000. It looks very like the bags that hold those flower patterned fleece blankets.
In 2007 Louis Vuitton had a series of four-figure tote bags in a checked design that resembled the checked plastic laundry bags.
What does this tell you?
A well designed and branded tote bag promoting your business could be the next bag to go viral.
Branded carrier bags are big news these days. If you don’t have good branding on the bags you hand out to a customer with their purchases you are missing out big time. If that bag is eye-catching and versatile to use, like TPBS cotton tote bags for example, people will use the bag again and again, getting your brand out there again and again too – what better marketing tool can you have?
These designer stories clearly show how the simplest of carrier bags can inspire something unexpected. The ridiculously expensive designer bags that take on the humble carrier bags are a little OTT, but they do show us how an iconic carrier bag can influence things we couldn’t imagine.
Here are a few other simple every-day ideas that caught the eye of fashion designers.
£184 for a brown paper bag – Really? In 2012 German designer, Jil Sander introduced a brown paper bag with a waxed coated finish. It sold out despite this hefty price tag.
In 2013 Chanel brought out a plastic bag that looked like a lego brick. With a staggering £5k price tag it was a favourite with celebrities including Rita Ora and Kim Kardashian.
In 2014 fashion designer Ashish Gupta created a sequinned shopper based on the humble Tesco carrier bag. You could give your shopping some sparkle with this up-market carrier bag for a mere £300.
Also in 2014 we saw shopping bags based on cereal boxes! The Cereal Shopper was designed by Anja Hindmarch, the designer who brought us the Sainsbury’s iconic ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ tote bag.
From ridiculous to reality – custom branded printed bags can be of enormous benefit to every company in the business of packaging purchases for customers.
From the humble sandwich to designer jewellery, presenting your product in a well branded bag will carry your branding out into the world, often reaching markets you could never have imagined. A cotton tote bag with an eye-catching design will be loved by your customers and used every day. A canvas shopping bag for your supermarket or delicatessen with memorable branding will resonate with your customers and all the other people who see them carrying your shopper. A printed sandwich bag carried by a hungry customer will catch the eye of others looking for a tasty bite for their lunch.
Don’t miss out on the benefits of printed bags. Whatever the size or style you need for your business The Printed Bag Shop has you covered! Why not talk to us today?