“High fashion is a joke”: Internet startled at $1790 Balenciaga trash pouch

The Balenciaga Trash Pouch is a new fad that has sparked conflicting responses throughout the internet. The Parisian luxury brand, which frequently makes headlines for its unconventional and experimental fashion pieces, returned to the scene with the Trash Pouch bag, which was initially displayed during the fashion label's Fall/Winter 2022 runway show.

Fans of the high-fashion label Balenciaga have been critical of Demna Gvasalia, the brand's creative director, for introducing a garbage bag-inspired bag with an outrageous $1,790 price tag.

One internet user mocked modern haute fashion and dismissed it as a hoax, saying:

The Balenciaga Trash Pouch bag is currently available for purchase from the fashion label’s e-commerce website. It is being offered in four colorways, blue, black, white, and yellow, with a price tag of $1,790.

Take a look at a few remarks made by internet users on IG (Image via @hypebeast/Instagram)

With its Trash Pouch bag, which was figuratively inspired by rubbish sacks, the high-end fashion label shocked the internet. The brand's expensive social experiment is receiving a deluge of nasty comments on Twitter and Instagram.

While some internet users praised Balenciaga for their brilliant marketing, others seemed to be much less impressed. However, a lot of people continued to deride high fashion as a joke and make fun of the Trash Pouch concept.

People filled the comments section of the post about the bag, which Hypebeast had put out. Some thought it was silly, while others wondered if someone would genuinely purchase it as a high-fashion accessory.

Someone else even wrote that now rich people are cosplaying as poor people. One of them claimed it was a metaphor for consumers.

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More about the Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2022 runway show and its sensational Trash Pouch

Balenciaga Trash Pouch first appeared at the label's Fall 2022 runway show (Image via Balenciaga)

Balenciaga's Autumn 2022 show paid reverence to the continuing Ukrainian crisis. Demna even gave showgoers a specially made Balenciaga T-shirt that was based on the Ukrainian flag's color schemes.

The runway setting and presentation itself was a potent and impactful experience. For the show, models were exposed to subzero temperatures inside a glass-enclosed snow machine that separated the audience from the models. This was done to portray how it must have felt for Demna to flee his native Georgia in a manner akin to how families in Ukraine are presently trying to escape the conflict.

In an interview with WWD, Demna spoke about his Trash bag designs:

“I couldn’t miss an opportunity to make the most expensive trash bag in the world, because who doesn’t love a fashion scandal?”

In fact, the designer has literally done that with this opulent accessory, which is based on a temporary trash bag but is made of luxurious calfskin leather instead.

However, Balenciaga's adaptation is undoubtedly the most confusing to date. There are four colorways available for this bag: black, white and red, blue and black, or yellow and black. Calfskin is used throughout, including the drawstrings and the interior.

Moreover, the front of the product has discreet branding stamped on it. Furthermore, an intricate layer has been added to give it an uneven shine similar to the shiny black bags you use to line your trash cans.

Interested buyers can get their favorite pieces of these Balenciaga Trash Pouch bags, which are selling for €1,400 or $1,790. Select boutiques of the fashion label, alongside some online stores, are also offering these bags.