Who thought penne and panache could walk hand-in-hand, but they do and fabulously so, as designer Nik Bentel turned a Barilla pasta box into a crossbody bag. This trendy mini fashion bag is probably the only good thing that came out of the pandemic. New York-based artist and designer Nik Bentel credits “his 100th bowl of penne pasta” for inspiration. It was as simple as him staring at that nearly constant kitchen view- a blue Barilla pasta box. The everyday moment urged him to explore possibilities of creating something exciting with a mundane, simple object and Voila!
The Barilla Bag was born. Bentel, known for his humorous projects, didn’t make any changes to the original box, only he created the accessory in specialty leather. Other contributing enhancements that add chic to the charmless is stitched leather handle, gold chain shoulder strap. To make matters as authentic as possible, the handbag comes with the Barilla logo, nutrition facts, and cooking instructions. Bentel explained in a statement, “In order to make the bag, I started with talking with the bag and leather experts who knew what materials and manufacturing [process] I should use,”
Bentel told Thrillist, “I went to a number of bag makers to collect samples. The final step was to commission a bag maker with the full order. The UV printing process was key to making the bag look as realistic as possible.” The Barilla-inspired bag will go live on Nikola’s site Wednesday, August 11 at 10, am EST. These bags are limited to 100 pieces, and once they sell out, the designer has no plans to produce any more of them. The Barilla Bag sells for $199 each.
[Via: Designboom]
