"What has this world come to?" are the opening statements of TikToker @oliviahoperivera in a video about one luxury bag's price. Sure, luxury brands are known for high-priced items, but this one marked up at $1,900 is a "brown paper bag"… that's not really a paper bag.
@oliviahoperivera Im cackling #whathasthisworldcometo #contraversial #fashion #luxuryfashion #fashionnews #news #america #lux #rich #richpeople #crazy #storytime #fy #bottegaveneta #bags #fashiontok ♬ Wii - Mii Channel - Super Guitar Bros
Confused? Is this just simply savvy marketing on the fashion brand's part, an interesting use of camouflage design, or a simple misunderstanding online? Upon further research, it may be all of the above. Bottega Veneta designed simple brown bags made to resemble paper bags, per Highsnobiety. Despite the clever silhouette, they used plush leather for the construction — not trees.
The two materials couldn't be more different — plush leather comes from cow, sheep, pig, or goat hide, but paper bags come from trees. However, the brand manages to fool the eye and create what appears to be a reusable shopping bag that also makes a cool purse.
It isn't the first time a luxury brand has caused similar outrage. Balenciaga's extravagant "grocery" bag, featuring a picture of strawberries, costs a whopping $3,290 — and it's not even made from leather.
Regardless of price or material, having a shopping bag you can reuse can reduce the amount of plastic bags already in the environment. That means less plastic taking 500 years to deteriorate in landfills, per Statista, packing running trails, or found in the stomachs of whale carcasses, per NPR.
A price tag of $3,290 or $1,900 is extravagant for a shopping bag for most people, but someone can and will likely pay for it based on the brand and celebrity endorsements alone.
However, that price is nothing compared to what the world pays due to plastic waste. According to the WWF, it costs over $32 billion to collect, sort, and recycle plastic waste. Plastic contamination in waterways also caused an estimated $7 billion economic loss in 2018.
Many comments were bemused by the product.
One commenter said, "I have a s*** ton of those under my sink."
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Does seeing a product labeled with its carbon footprint make you more likely to buy it?
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Definitely 👍 However, the famous brand may not have a problem selling it since it's really a leather item.
As another posted, "Isn't it leather [though] it looks like it is leather … and I kind of like it. There I said it."
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