Designer turns box of pasta into purse

The famous Barilla pasta box becomes a purse. An idea from designer Nikolas Bentel that leaves us speechless.

After the Ikea and Tati tote bags by Balenciaga or the handbags in the shape of coconut milk bricks from Chanel, here is … The “pasta bag”, the handbag in the shape of a Barilla pasta box. More precisely pinnae. For several days, the creation of American designer Nikolas Bentel, shared on Instagram on August 5, has been making the buzz on social networks.

It must be said that the idea may seem quite funny. In leather, the handbag identically reproduces the famous box of pins of the famous manufacturer. Except that it is decked out with a rigid handle on the top and a golden chain attached to the sides to wear it over the shoulder. The opening has also been modified, to access your belongings more easily and, above all, not to allow the first comer to reach into their wallet.

In a press release, Nikolas Bentel explains that he wanted to transform this lambda everyday object into a fashion accessory to make it more “fun”. “During the worst months of the pandemic, pretty much everyone had a similar experience staring at that box of pasta. Why not try and reinvent the role of this food into something a little more exciting.”, he says. The fun produced by this “pasta bag” at a price: 199 dollars, or more or less 169 euros. It is only available for pre-order on the designer’s website and will be produced in a limited edition of 100 copies.

However, if this creation, to say the least original, can be laughed at, what is hidden behind is much less “exciting”. As the journalist Alice Pfeiffer explained to Slate in 2019 during an investigation around the infatuation of the well-to-do classes for second-hand clothes and this type of product diverting objects from popular culture, hides a class contempt. Regarding the famous Balenciaga tote bags, she said: “These codes become fashion precisely when they are recovered. They only exist through a process of sublimation that involves rereading it. It is not the Tati bag that these customers want but the ironic quote and a little embarrassing of this bag “.

Melody Capronnier

Journalist passionate about current affairs, committed to women’s rights and ecology, Mélodie handles the news for you on Sundays and public holidays. When she’s not on the lookout …