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Lifestyle
Louis Vuitton has “made a luxury handbag that looks like nothing more than a paper bag,” said Sherri Shepherd.
It is often said that art imitates life — and for Pharrell Williams and the Louis Vuitton team, the same rule applies to fashion. During Williams’ debut show as the luxury brand’s new menswear creative director, Louis Vuitton introduced its “Sandwich Bag,” which, as its name suggests, is inspired by traditional paper lunch bags, albeit more in scale with a grocery bag. But unlike the ubiquitous brown paper bag, Louis Vuitton’s leather “Sandwich Bag” retails for over $3,000.
In a recent episode of her eponymous talk show, Sherri Shepherd shared her reaction to the brand’s luxury version of the everyday item.
“These designers out here know we will buy just about anything, and they keep making fun of us,” Shepherd told the audience. “Louis Vuitton and Pharrell Williams have teamed up and made a luxury handbag that looks like nothing more than a paper bag.”
Besides the bag’s simple design, Shepherd’s biggest gripe was the lack of handles on the bag. Joking that she doesn’t even like to carry grocery bags without a handle, the comedian expressed why the bag’s oversized clutch style isn’t ideal for her.
“This bag is leather. It’s gonna slip out of your hand if it has no handle,” she explained. “You carry this bag in New York City [and] you’re asking to get robbed because all they gotta do is push the bag and take it.”
Haniyah Philogene
Kay Wicker
TheGrio Lifestyle
Miles Marshall Lewis
TheGrio Lifestyle
Kay Wicker
Matthew Allen
TheGrio Staff
For Shepherd, the possibility of being separated from her bag so easily is unsettling. She went on to explain how, when taking the train in New York, she not only wraps the bag around her hand for extra security, but “sometimes I’ll even put my foot right in it because if you take my bag, you’re gonna take [me with you,]” she joked, acting out the scenario. “You not separating me from my purse! You gonna grab all 160 pounds [with it].”
In the show’s “Wear it up or tear it up” segment, the host modeled a rendition of the Louis Vuitton’s Sandwich Bag made by the show’s art director, Michael Lee Scott.
“He made this for 18 cents,” she said, holding an oversized paper bag that read ‘Louie Vitawn.’ “That’s about 2900 [dollars] and 82 cents less than what you’re getting [at Louis Vuitton].”
While the show’s audience ultimately decided to “tear it up,” this is not the first time Louis Vuitton or other luxury brands have created purses inspired by everyday items. During a centennial rebranding in 1973, Bloomingdales turned the popular “Brown Bag” its shoppers received with purchases into a tote design they could carry daily. Though significantly cheaper than Louis Vuitton’s Sandwich Bag, the luxury retailer’s “Brown Bag” collection remains one of the most enduring showcases of this trend.
Meanwhile, Williams’ predecessor, Virgil Abloh, released a “Paint Can bag” with Louis Vuitton in 2022. Similarly, in 2023, Yves Saint Laurent released a leather “Take-away box bag” that resembles the old-school McDonald’s Happy Meal box. With these designs retailing for thousands of dollars, Shepherd posed an interesting question:
“I just keep [wondering] when are we going to stop letting these designers make a fool of us?”
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