Bop Talk

Updated on 6/29/23:

The Microscopic handbag, created by MSCHF, has been sold at auction for an astonishing $63,750 USD. The tiny bag captured the attention of luxury fashion enthusiasts and collectors alike, resulting in a fierce bidding war.

The online auction, hosted by Pharrell William’s auction house, Joopiter, attracted significant interest globally. Despite its controversial nature and the absence of an official collaboration with Louis Vuitton, the Microscopic Handbag’s intricate design, certainly proved to be an irresistible collectible.

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Microscopes at the ready! Tiny bag energy has gone to the extreme – MSCHF has unveiled the world’s smallest handbag.

In February 2023, MSCHF made headlines with those huge red boots, which went viral after they strutted their stuff at New York Fashion Week. Now they have released yet another controversial item. This time around, the accessory release is a whole lot smaller, and it’s a handbag. However, this is not any small handbag… it’s a handbag that takes the tiny bag trend to the extreme. A bag that is so small that you’ll need a microscope.

Image courtesy: @mschf

Appropriately named the ‘Microscopic Handbag’, MSCHF’s teeny tiny bag is made from photopolymer resin using a process called two-photon polymerization. The production process is similar to 3-D printing, exclusively for microscopic objects. Speaking of microscopic, the bag itself measures a minuscule 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers. To put those figures into perspective – that’s smaller than a grain of sea salt and more comparable to the size of a speck of dust. To the naked eye, the fluorescent and slightly translucent green bag looks like a tiny speck of plastic. However, when it is magnified, all becomes revealed…

Image courtesy: @mschf

Interestingly for luxe lovers, the bag’s design is modeled after Louis Vuitton’s much-loved monogram OnTheGo tote. Under the microscope, Louis Vuitton’s iconic monogram print is clearly visible. However, it is reported that the creative collective did not get prior permission from the French fashion house. Therefore this is no official collaboration. Wiesner, was quoted in the New York Times saying: “We are big in the ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ school.” Or, perhaps, it’s a bit of an end run around Louis Vuitton, as the “bag” will be sold in an auction run, in part, by Pharrell Williams’ auction house Joopiter. Williams is now men’s designer for the luxury brand.

While you can’t wear this microscopic bag, you can certainly invest in it. The collective is releasing this bag as a statement on luxury handbags, their ever-shrinking size, and the sheer extremes luxe lovers will go to in order to acquire these pieces. Kevin Wiesner, the chief creative officer of MSCHF stated in their release:

“As a once-functional object like a handbag becomes smaller and smaller, its object status becomes steadily more abstracted until its purely a brand signifier.”

Wiesner added that “previous small leather handbags have still required a hand to carry them – they become dysfunctional, inconveniences to their wearer.”As a result, MSCHF’s goal is to strip away all of the bag’s functionality, leaving nothing but a brand symbol. “It is the final word in bag miniaturization,” MSCHF said in a statement.

Image courtesy: @mschf

Should you wish to invest in this tiny bag – you can. Firstly, it will be displayed for public viewing at the 8 Avenue Matignon Gallery in Paris from June 20 to June 24. In order for the bag to be viewed, it will be displayed beneath a microscope in a sealed case. The bag will then make its way to Pharrell William’s auction house –Joopiter. On June 19 the bag will be auctioned off online to a buyer in the Just Phriends auction. Currently, the starting bid is unknown – however, we’re sure due to its controversial nature and LV design it is set to be a big figure.

Louis Vuitton’s reaction remains to be seen . . . Could this be a repeat of the Hermès v Mason Rothschild lawsuit over the “Metabirkin”?

What are your thoughts on this microscopic marvel? Would you invest in this tiny bag?