If no one breaks the boxes anymore
From simple containers to cult wearables. From the supply chain, confirmation: brands want increasingly exclusive containers
Fashion is a game of cross-references. Fashion shows inspire, launching new trends, but at the same time urban style is kept well in mind by designers. So what happens is that if, on the one hand, consumers begin to turn brands' paper bags into objects to buy and show off, brands begin to include accessories that recall the packaging among their creations.
Shopping and second hand sites teem with ads dedicated to the boxes and paper bags in which Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Balenciaga, Tiffany & Co. deliver their products. Obviously they are "just" containers, but sporting a brand's box or bag alludes to having a designer item. This is not always the case, of course. But "the essential is invisible to the eyes" to misquote de Saint-Exupéry.
The new trend was immediately intercepted by designer labels who, in a game of mirrors, turned the tables. Last in order of time Balenciaga: a few days ago a leather Trompe l'oeil clutch in the shape of a shoebox appeared on Instagram. Somewhere between a joke and a publicity stunt were Adidas' Box Shoes, sneakers also shaped like a shoebox that appeared in late March on the Adidas Confirmed app. But it was just an April Fool's joke.
More than real, on the other hand, was Bottega Veneta's intent with the Brown Bag: the appearance is reminiscent in every way of the anonymous brown paper bag but it is actually a small masterpiece of sophistication, made of leather with a suede interior. Even Saint Laurent has not escaped the trend with the bag that looks like a takeout container. To avoid excessive guesswork, the bag is actually called Take away box and is made of monogram leather with metal logo.
Balenciaga, for the AW 24/25 collection, paraded its tape bracelet (cost about 3 thousand euros) on the runway, strictly branded. The packaging definitively consecrated as an object of desire.
Meanwhile, from the supply chain comes confirmation: brands want for their creations packaging that is increasingly refined, innovative, uniquely designed or, even better, characterized by a figure that makes them exclusive. To perhaps continue with consumers this game of cross-references, feeding desire on the one hand and drawing inspiration for new proposals on the other.
"Over the years we have seen from brands an increasing demand for precision, for the use of innovative materials and special papers, for boxes with accessories and different types of openings," explain from Sima Scatolificio. Able to stand out and set trends in short, but strictly sustainable: "they ask us for recyclable papers and from recycled sources," they add from the company. "That is why for the future the goal is to reach the highest levels in the use of these materials.
In the same vein is Sauro Mannucci of Mannucci Packaging: "The market is increasingly demanding quality and innovative products. This is why we have structured ourselves to provide these kinds of answers, including through the recent acquisition of Extra Box, a company specializing in displays and other products with high design content. This is an approach that we pursue within the framework of high craftsmanship production, with the lowest possible impact on the environment and in the name of creativity."
"Packaging now accounts for 90 percent of product presentation, so much so that there is a second market entirely dedicated to boxes," confirms Salvatore Liguori, production manager at Scatolificio San Maurizio. "This is also why brands today, alongside sustainability, demand a product that lives up to its name, and on packaging they spare no expense, not only in the fashion sector.
