How Designers Are Making Everyday Items Fashion
From bread to trash bags, are there any bounds to fashion design?
Today, designers are the face of boldness, creativity, and innovation. Good designers are willing to take risks on new designs and envision ways to make even the most ordinary items fashionable. For them, design serves as a means of communication and a creative outlet. As a result, the products they create often reflect the human psyche, thinking, and behavior. On a larger scale, fashion designers communicate with the rest of the world through their pieces, while consumers obsess over their work that reflects humankind as a whole.
Designers take inspiration from every corner of society. Often, they push the boundaries of what is considered high fashion, moving past luxury labels and expanding the frontiers of design. At the same time, they bring back fashion to perhaps what is at the heart of the fashion industry: the people and the ordinary lives they lead. Fashionable pieces, regardless of look, should also appeal to the practical values of their audience. As such, there have been cases when designers utilize household items and elevate them into clothing, bags, and accessories that are quirky, fun, and quote-unquote luxury.
Let’s take the Balenciaga trash bag, for instance. The brand’s recent release of a $1,790 luxury "trash bag" made of calfskin leather sparked consumer disbelief and online outrage. But it’s not the first time the brand has caused such controversy. In 2017, Balenciaga released an oversized blue tote bag that closely resembled the iconic Ikea bag. Balenciaga Creative Director Demna revealed the everyday bag indeed inspired him as he, along with many other consumers, was impressed with its simplicity and durability. As such, he wanted to recreate and elevate it by making the bag out of leather. Demna is known for loving scandal and constantly teasing his audience with items people don’t expect to see on the runway.
In the quick-paced, evolving nature of the fashion world, perhaps designers like to incorporate more items known to everyone. After all, brands love to spark conversation by engaging with the unexpected. From the Moschino dry cleaning bag dress to the Jil Sander paper bag, designs that evoke mockery and sarcastic headlines also reflect designers' play with minimalist fashion, testing what truly matters in the audience's eyes. Each piece is viewed with subjectivity, and whether it's price, quality, or look, every individual determines what is important in fashion for themselves.
Pieces that incorporate the ordinary pay homage to humble beginnings and simple utility. The Louis Vuitton paint can bag, Bottega Veneta telephone cord necklace, and Moschino baguette bag all reflect everyday items that have been transformed into high fashion. Fashion designers themselves question where the boundaries of fashion lie, and for now, it seems like they are endless.
