After chips packet bags, towel skirts, trashbag handbags, and desi blanket bags, Balenciaga did it once again. This time it’s a roll of transparent sticky tape bracelet for a whopping $4400 which can be found from our local stores for just a few hundred rupees.
It is essentially a roll of Scotch tape that Balenciaga is passing off as a high-end bracelet with the appropriately absurd, high-end price of €3,000 (S$4,400).
Naturally, it is being mocked mercilessly – and praised obliquely – online, the latest in a string of everyday products the luxury fashion brand is elevating to haute couture heights by stamping them with its highly coveted name.
The bracelet – crafted to resemble a roll of transparent Scotch tape – was part of Balenciaga’s fall/winter 2024-25 collection, unveiled on March 3 during Paris Fashion Week, and plays with the concept of packaging materials as fashion accessories.
A model wore the bracelet on the catwalk. She was dressed in a loose powder blue dress that was tightened to fit her body with adhesive tape.
Online commentators have been swift to critique the piece, with many ridiculing the concept of spending a small fortune on a bracelet inspired by an object synonymous with practicality rather than luxury. Netizens speculated that Balenciaga might be conducting a social experiment to test the limits of consumer behavior among the affluent.
Yet some approach the conversation with a sense of humor, suggesting that the true intent behind Balenciaga’s creation is to lampoon the very clientele that purchases such items.
The element of disbelief was palpable among social media users, with one confessing that they initially thought the bracelet was a prank—until the presence of the Balenciaga logo confirmed its authenticity and connection to the world of avant-garde fashion.
