IKEA Provides A Brilliant Response to Balenciaga's £1125 Copy Of Its 40p Tote Bag
Balenciaga Men's SS17 Men's, Paris Fashion Week | (Image courtesy of Essential Homme)
The French luxury fashion brand Balenciaga, under the creative direction of modern designer Demna Gvasalia has designed a blue tote bag that has been likened in similarity to the well-known IKEA's iconic Frakta bag, yet at a considerably higher price. According to Dezeen, IKEA's popular Frakta bags are made from synthetic material polypropylene and were originally designed by siblings Marianne and Knut Hagberg, and costs just 40 pence - whilst the French fashion houses similar looking tote- made from Italian leather and lambskin, the Balenciaga ‘Carry Shopper Medium’ bag that featured in it’s SS17 men's runway show, retails for a significantly higher price at £1,125.
Though it does happen, it’s far from an everyday occurrence hearing of an iconic fashion brand been accused of copying, and this week, despite IKEA not having the best record for copying the designs of others themselves - the furniture retailer posted a playful ad to it’s website offering consumers a series of steps on how to determine whether their ‘FRAKTA’ is the genuine article or not.
(Image: Ikea | Rights Acne Collective)
Last week, in a tongue-in-cheek response to the similarities between the two products, the furniture retailer IKEA posted the following to their facebook account: "Get the big blue bag that started it all at a price that’s 4,000 times more affordable. Visit our stores to check out this and other authentic IKEA designs that are all the rage," and Stella Monteiro, sales leader for IKEA UK and Ireland said: "we are extremely flattered to seemingly be an inspiration for the latest catwalk designs for Balenciaga, our IKEA Frakta tote is one of our most iconic products which are already owned and loved by millions – now the many people truly can get the designer look for less."
The creative director of Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia – who studied fashion at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, in Antwerp is also the designer behind the luxury streetwear label Vetements – who took the fashion world by storm, when he sold t-shirts bearing the logo of shipping company DHL, for £185.
But what is this phenomenon that has become so common in the luxury fashion industry that enables a luxury designer to package and sell every day items at a higher price? And how – might you ask is one able to sell a copy of a bag that retails at 40 pence for £1125? And turn it into – well, into luxury? Well according to French sociologist Bourdieu who wrote extensively on the field of high-fashion, "what makes the value of the work is not the rarity (the uniqueness) of the product but the rarity of the producer, manifested by the signature...the designer[s] label."