If you’re a regular reader, you’d probably already know by now that I’m a HUGE Balenciaga fangirl, especially when it comes to their City bags. I may have quite a number of bags in my collection, but in all honesty, I use my Balenciaga City bags the most. From the Giant 21 studs to the Giant 12 (I don’t own any with regular-sized hardware), I don’t know what it is, but they’re just so easy to use. And, despite it being made of distressed lambskin, I can throw them under the seat of the airplane when travelling, or just stuff it to the brim, yet, there are hardly any scuffs, scratches, or telltale signs of wear. But, I really don’t know how I feel about this latest Graffiti Print City Bags.  I mean, I love graffiti and I love the City on its own, but let’s just say I don’t favour them together on the same bag.

Somehow, it looks as if Balenciaga’s latest Creative Director Demna Gvasalia got a little tooooo marker happy, upon the discovery of marker pens because he leaves no surface of the bag unscrawled on, whether it be the sides, or the back. Yet, it isn’t just random scribbles either. Each version of the Graffiti City S bags have “40 Rue de Sevres” – the boutique’s address, “City S”,  the official Balanciaga website, “City”, “Bag”, “leather Bag,” “Paris” — all of which are related to this particular bag; spelling everything out and making everything obvious, leaving nothing to chance or interpretation, if you will.

These babies are actually available for pre-order online via the official website, but y’know I really don’t know if paying over USD2,000 for this is even worth it. I mean, it’s certainly got street cred if that’s what you’re going for, but despite that, in to me, it looks a little too el cheapo and trashy. But hey, one (wo)man’s meat, another’s poison, right? So, if this is your jam, you could actually just get a Classic City in black, and just get some marker pens and try to replicate this design, or you could draw inspiration from these, and personalise it in whichever way you want in your very own handwriting, plus, a set of marker pens won’t cost you that much anyway.

It’s a Nay for me, what about you?

Images via Balenciaga