‘A fashion mockery’: Fans react to Balenciaga x ‘Lays’ handbag

The bag will reportedly retail for more than £1,600

Fashion fans are divided over Balenciaga’s latest accessory, a bag that looks like a packet of Lays crisps.

The bags made their debut during the French brand’s Summer 2023 presentation at Paris Fashion Week last month, when models were seen walking through a muddy pit carrying the scrunched-up offering.

The item has the approval of the global crisps brand, which shared images from the catwalk to its own Instagram account.

The bag is set to hit shelves in spring/summer of 2023 and will reportedly retail for $1,800 (£1,630).

Images shared on Instagram show the bag will be available in at least four colourways; yellow, blue, light green, and black and red.

As noted by @diet_prada, the accessory may have been inspired by creative director Demna himself, who was spotted carrying around a packet of real Lays at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts graduate show this summer.

The bag has been met with mixed reactions online. One person described it as a “fashion mockery”, while another said it was “genius”.

Someone else joked that the bag could be called “BaLaysiaga”.

“I don’t like stuff like this. ‘Look what we can do because we’re Balenciaga!’ Where is the fashion? It’s like they are playing in our faces and for what?” one critic said.

Another person wrote: “At this point fashion houses are all trolling consumers. A trash bag, a bag of chips, a paper clip.”

One social media user joked that the bag could easily be mistaken for rubbish: “All this just for my mum to clean my room while I’m gone and throw it away…”

The news comes just weeks after Balenciaga unveiled a new handbag dubbed the “world’s most expensive trash bag”.

The “Trash Pouch”, made of calf skin, is currently available for pre-order. It comes in black and white and retails for £1,295.