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A microscopic Louis Vuitton knockoff handbag was at the center of a massive sale after it sold for $63,750 at auction earlier this week.
The green bag, made by the New York-based art collective MSCHF, measures in at 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers or “smaller than a grain of salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle,” an Instagram post described.
It was on display in Paris while pre-mounted under a microscope earlier this month, according to Vogue.
The LV logo-carrying bag acts as commentary on “the impracticality of ever-shrinking luxury” handbags while MSCHF’s chief creative officer Kevin Wiesner told The New York Times that a bag is a “funny” object.
“I think ‘bag’ is a funny object because it derives from something rigorously functional,” Wiesner said. “But it has basically become jewelry.”
This year, the microscopic accessory was sold at Joopiter, an auction house founded by Louis Vuitton men’s designer Pharrell Williams. Wiesner told The Times that the art collective hadn’t asked for permission to use the LV logo or design.
“We are big in the ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ school,” said Wiesner, whose art collective has dealt with legal issues over some of its pieces.
“Pharrell loves big hats, so we made him an incredibly small bag.”