Balenciaga will be putting out another bag associated with shopping in a market or places as unglamorous. Get ready for the furious fallout

Balenciaga has been selling bags modeled after those that are inexpensive (downright cheap in some cases), such as supermarket shopping bags, to the dismay—even irritation—of those who think the luxury brand can do better. Seen at the recent autumn/winter 2025 collection was this shopping bag that looked like something you’ll be given to store your purchases when you shop in Chinatown, in the 1990s. They are not supermarket bags, such as the brand’s Monday Shopper from the spring/summer 2022 season. These were usually given out by stores that sold daily essentials, such as shampoo, or arts and crafts needs, such a haberdashery. Some still do. For the Balenciaga show, the model carried the bag that seemed to contain something. It was near impossible to know what was in it.

Seeing how creased it was, the bag could have been nicked from the residence of a compulsive hoarder. Perhaps that was the message Balenciaga wanted to communicate: possession of the disadvantaged, now fashioned as a luxury item. It was hard to tell if the bag was made of plastic (although it looked to be), but based on the ‘cheap’ yet astronomically priced ones of the past (including the clutch, modeled after chip bags), this latest version could be made of leather. When Balenciaga released the Shopper Tote in 2017, styled in the likeness of Ikea’s unmistakable Frakta, many supporters of the brand passed it off as “ironic”, which was also the approval that the Shopper Tote’s predecessor, the Bazar Bag, enjoyed. How long can irony be sustained without losing its effectiveness or going totally vapid? Let’s see.

Photo: Balenciaga