Would you pay $5,420 for this blanket bag?

The Blanket Square XL bag from Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection. Photo: Balenciaga / Facebook

It looks like a blanket bag out of your grandmother’s closet, but Balenciaga’s Blanket Square tote seems to be selling well here, despite the flak it has received.

The lambskin bags, which are from the French luxury brand’s Spring/Summer collection this year, are a dead-ringer for the PVC bags used to house thick, floral-patterned blankets, with their twisted nappa handles and label on the upper right corner.

Since the item – which comes in small, medium and extra large sizes – debuted on the runway in October, netizens have slammed it online, likening it to the cheaper bagged blankets often found at night markets here.

Bazar Shopper tote from Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 2016 collection. Photo: Balenciaga

Balenciaga’s orange version in extra large costs $5,420 – and does not come with a blanket. Despite this, a check yesterday at several of the brand’s outlets here found that the small size of the bag in yellow ($2,980) and orange ($2,980) were selling well, going by accounts of store assistants at outlets in Paragon and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

The bags were designed by Balenciaga’s 36-year-old creative director Demna Gvasalia, known for his hip designs at avant-garde streetwear label Vetements.

It seems that pasar malam chic is all the rage these days.

PVC tote bag from Comme des Garcons. Photo: COTWO / Facebook

Japanese fashion brand Comme des Garcons, which has a signature tote bag that looks as though it is made of crumpled brown paper, sold out upon its release in 2015.

The bag is a brand mainstay and is available at the Hilton Hotel Singapore for $130. Multi-label retailer Club21, which brought the brand to Singapore, says it sells an average of 30 such bags each month. A similar bag was launched by German luxury brand Jil Sander in 2012.

The brown sack, made of coated paper stitched together, sold for US$290 (S$405) at its New York SoHo boutique. Despite its price tag, the bag sold out quickly.

And Balenciaga’s multicoloured Bazar Shopper tote from its Fall/Winter 2016 collection, also designed by Gvasalia, did well despite initial ridicule.

Leather versions of Balenciaga's Bazar Shopper Tote from its Resort 2016 collection at the brand's boutique at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Photo: ST Photo / Alyssa Woo

The popularity of these items, however, did not come as a surprise to industry players here. Mr Darren Loke, co-founder of bag and accessories label Omitir Concepts, says that the bags are conversation starters and “a true test of faith”.

The 27-year-old says: “I do think designers sometimes merely create such pieces to test the market to see whether whatever they design will be blindly accepted by their fans.”

Singaporean artisanal bag designer Goh Ling Ling, 42, who owns bag label Ling Wu, says she knew Gvasalia was “going to tear up the rule book” when he joined Balenciaga in 2015.

She adds: “There’s a long history of artists doing the same thing... you’re seeing a similar reaction with this bag – people saying it’s not fashion or that it’s a rip-off or stolen. But that’s exactly the brand’s point – to get people to think about and question what fashion is. So whether you truly want to fork out thousands of dollars for items like this or are more interested on an intellectual level... it has gotten our attention.”

But not all shoppers are convinced. Ms Tammie Kang, 25, a marketing communications executive at a law firm, says: “I agree it looks like a blanket bag. Too bad for those unexposed to this phenomenon, where only in Asia would you see people at a pasar malam carrying such bags.”

This story was first published on The Straits Times on March 30, 2017.

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