Shoppers took to the internet to discuss a wildly expensive Balenciaga wallet modeled after crumpled chip bags — a bit of garbage that, unfortunately, many of these wallets will likely become sooner rather than later.
Photos and videos posted on Instagram by Luxurious (@luxuriousbymm), an account that showcases luxury items, showed various versions of the chip-bag-inspired wallets.
"Balenciaga unveils their latest chip bag-inspired wallets as part of the Summer '25 collection, building on the buzz of their viral $1,800 chip bag debut," the video's caption reads. "What are your thoughts on this bold statement piece?"
The design may be bold, but it's also blatantly problematic. Not only does the price of the wallet guarantee that the owner will have considerably less cash to put inside it, but these kinds of microtrends are no friend to the environment.
Fast fashion is already a known problem. The items are sold at a low cost to allow people to keep up with the latest trends and are not made to last. While niche luxury items like this Balenciaga wallet are not necessarily the same, they lead to a similar problem: items being bought for a specific moment in time that are then forgotten about or seen as something that needs to be gotten rid of.
Often, people don't know how to dispose of these items correctly, and they become trash — ironic in this case, as that is exactly what they are modeled after.
Earth.org reports that over 100 million tons of textile waste are sent to landfills annually. Once there, it creates loads of planet-warming pollution. Further, whether made of polyester, a form of plastic, or leather, loads of resources were used to manufacture the product. When it becomes trash after a short life span, these resources are also more or less wasted.
Items like this will not likely end up being one people use time and time again, meaning they're more likely to become part of the problematic statistic than items in many people's core wardrobe. That said, if it or a similar outrageous product has caught your eye, waiting a little while until you can buy it secondhand will benefit your bank account and the planet.
Thrifting can save shoppers $1,700 a year on average, keeping items out of landfills, whether they look like trash or not.
Regarding the post's caption, "What are your thoughts," commenters had plenty of them.
"Feels like a joke at this point," one wrote.
"Wtf is going on in the world like for reals?!" another said.
"Make it stop," one more begged.
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