Microscopic handbag ‘smaller than a grain of salt’ sells for $63K at auction

MSCHF, the American art collective known for its zany creations, has sold its Microscopic Handbag for an eye-watering $63,750 USD. The piece was sold at Just Phriends, an auction organized by Sarah Andelman and Joopiter, the digital-first auction house and content platform founded by Pharrell Williams.

The collective, which made waves with its ridiculously oversized Big Red Boots earlier this year, announced its latest creation earlier this month.

“Smaller than a grain of sea salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle, this is a purse so small you’ll need a microscope to see it,” the group said in an Instagram post unveiling the new accessory, describing it as an “art piece.”

Just how small is this handbag? It measures 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers. So tiny, in fact, that the group lost some of the “bags” when the samples first arrived, reported The New York Times.

The item, made from resin and through a process called two-photon polymerization, is meant to reference the growing fashion trend of miniaturization, turning once-practical accessories into nothing more than status symbols.

“There are big handbags, normal handbags, and small handbags, but this is the final word in bag miniaturization,” the collective said in the Instagram post. “As a once-functional object like a handbag becomes smaller and smaller its object status becomes steadily more abstracted until it is purely a brand signifier.”

The Microscopic Handbag is, itself, modelled after Louis Vuitton’s popular OnTheGo tote, even though MSCHF had not asked the brand for permission to use its logo or design, according to the New York Times.

“We are big in the ‘ask forgiveness, not permission’ school,” said Kevin Wiesner, the company’s chief creative officer, in an interview with the publication.

MSCHF has faced not just public scrutiny, but also legal issues, for its previous creations. In 2021, the group settled a trademark lawsuit with Nike over its “Satan Shoes,” which were modelled after the Nike Air Max 97 sneaker, made in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X and purportedly contained a drop of human blood.

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