MSCHF trolls fashion with designer bags

The Future. MSCHF — the artist collective responsible for satirizing troublesome tech innovations and runaway consumer culture — is now selling empty shopping bags from luxury brands so you can pretend that you’re rich and famous. Of course, the product isn’t what matters here, but rather the hype around the product… a concept that may be making the MSCHF team the foremost chroniclers of the absurdities in modern society.

Brand stand
MSCHF has returned to poke fun at our empty class signifiers.

• The internet provocateur is dropping a collection called “ONLYBAGS,” which is literally just empty bags from brands like Fendi, Prada, Supreme, and Rolex.
• The purpose is to skew the idea that walking around with luxury bags (even sans merch) denotes power, wealth, and status.
• The twelve different retail shopping bags are available for $40 each on the ONLYBAGS website.

Did MSCHF get any of these brands’ permission to use the bags? Of course not! The collective might get sued, just like how Nike did… but that will only raise even more hype for the bags.

Showcase
MSCHF is known for its drop manifestos, and this one doesn’t disappoint: “If there’s one thing we know from acquiring our bag samples, it’s that strolling down the street laden with (empty, of course!) Balenciaga, Valentino, Rolex, et al. is one hell of a power trip.”

That superficial power trip is exactly what MSCHF hopes to satire, and there’s plenty of real-world evidence to prove that they are right on the money. Celebrities on shopping sprees are routinely photographed by paparazzi, and luxury shopping bags are even resold online for high premiums. At the end of the day, people just want to feel like they can own something ridiculously expensive.