Balenciaga’s INR 2-Lakh Bags Remind Indians of ‘Kambal’. High Fashion’s Audacity To Price Normal Things So High Is Amusing!
If you are an Indian reading this, 100 bucks says you’d find a blanket bag in one of your winter closets. Probably gifted to your parents at a wedding or bought from a local market by your mom. You can send the money later (because obviously, I won) but here’s the news. You could use it as a fashion statement the next time you go out. Simply say it’s the Balenciaga bag from their Summer Spring 2017 collection. And see, that would work. Because the luxury brand Balenciaga showcased the same blanket bag that you’ve had since childhood, or a strikingly similar one, on the 2017 runway!
Someone on Twitter dug this luxury fashion item up. And Indians couldn’t help but compare it to the desi ‘kambal’ bag they’ve grown up using every winter. Balenciaga’s bags were these large unisex handbags with “flower blanket’s print inspiration”. Something tells me this inspiration (or bluntly copied print) comes from the desi comforters in our households. But that wasn’t the amusing thing that made desi roll eyes. These Balenciaga bags were originally priced at $3,670 which came to a little over INR 2 lakhs back in 2017. And, it didn’t even come with a blanket in it. How dare they?
Twitter users posted the two items and boasted about the fact that they’ve been using the bags before Balenciaga made it cool. Just not, like, as handbags. They pointed out the sheer audacity of the luxury brand to plagiarise the print and sell it off with an insane price tag. Basically, our two-grand blanket bag (with blanket included, not to forget) is being sold off at a price hundred times more and we never even knew! Take a look at some of the hilarious reactions from the desi Twitterati.
meri ammi ka kambal waapis karo bhai https://t.co/vH1iXj8AbS
— perneeya (@dykeistan) September 29, 2020
She be holding a kambal bag yk https://t.co/NIIsWqCtTd
— Amrit Kaur (@Amritkaur_bx) September 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/hotttcheetoss/status/1310832344392183808
What Balenciaga did isn’t anything new. High-end fashion brands are notorious for selling ridiculous stuff at even more ridiculous prices. And, sometimes, these are things you didn’t even know you needed to be branded, let alone from a luxury brand. For example, a Christopher Kane zip lock, Prada chess board, Marc Jacobs hair tie… the list of such weird luxury brand items that no one really needs goes on. They’ll pass off completely standard household things as these luxury fashion items and people will still throw their precious pennies on it. Remember the Louis Vuitton face shield costing 70 grands that protects you the same as a face shield worth 700 bucks? Who is even buying this expensive shit? Not me! My mom will disown me.
Also Read: Louis Vuitton Releases Their Luxury Face Shield With Gold Studs And It Costs 70 Grand. What A Horrible Way To Take Advantage Of The Pandemic
Just a few weeks ago, Italian fashion house Gucci came under fire for selling grass-stained jeans and overalls that looked like the ones you had as a kid but ruined after you played in the lawn one day. Don’t be shocked just yet, wait till you hear the price. It was worth INR 1 lakh. Yes, the jeans that looked like it needed a wash was priced 1 lakh! Before that, they launched dirty looking sneakers passing them off as 70s-inspired sneakers for 60 grand. And, these are just a few top brands. There have been so many such instances where fashion brands have passed off absurd stuff under their huge ass name.
Clearly these brands are under impression that whatever they’d offer will sell like hot cakes. On a second thought, they are not wrong. These fashion brands come up with such pricey items no one needs because, well, they sell out within minutes. Why? Because, luxury brand! Them slapping their name and logo on even a totally random thing is enough for the fashion lovers to go bananas over them.
Gucci is selling dirty sneakers with scuff marks for $870 https://t.co/jq67o3IMdA pic.twitter.com/DftYYYODgs
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) February 14, 2019
Talking about the Balenciaga bags, we would have never guessed that the humble kambal bag could make an appearance on the international runways, but here we are. Don’t be surprised if you see someone sporting the blanket bag on streets. They are just making good use of the bags we thought were good for nothing till now and shoved in the back of the closet till it was winter again. And, don’t be surprised if that someone is me. Also, how would you be sending me those 100 bucks?
