Image from http://style.mtv.com
If it wasn’t apparent already, it certainly is now: Americans will buy anything, and no, I’m not referring to Burger King’s atrocious Bacon Sundae.
Cue minimalist designer Jil Sander’s entry into the conversation; hailing from Germany, Sander has created a $200 million empire consisting of men and women’s apparel, accessories, and fragrances. Sold in prominent department stores, such as Barneys New York, the collections usually consist of staple items. In other words, Sander is originally known for high-end wardrobe basics. (x)
If that’s the case, will someone please explain to me why she decided to slap her name on a lunch sack and call it a handbag? This isn’t the first time we’ve seen “the designer lunch bag,” but it is the first time we’ve seen it marked with a $290 price tag. In comparison to Marie Turnor’s “Picnic Bag” clutch, priced at $175, and Etsy designer Brian Rosenbarker’s leather carryall, priced at $35, Sander’s bag is both impractical and absurdly expensive. Sander’s latest piece is literally a (coated) paper sack. No fancy disguise here, what you see is what you get.
So what makes this brown bag different than the ones you see at the grocery store, you ask? The label, of course! Instead of the familiar CVS or Whole Foods trademark, ‘Jil Sander’ is stamped in small print towards the bottom. Really, who decided this was a good idea, that this was marketable? I don’t know about you, but I don’t have $300 to spend, let alone to waste on a paper bag.
Most people have the very same (perhaps non-coated) brown paper bag in their kitchen pantry at this very moment. They’re disposable, coated or not. Hmmm, should I spend about $5 on a pack of 50 paper bags at Walmart? Or should I spend $290 on this extravagant paper bag by Jil Sander?
What a tough decision.
