Nik Bentel’s Shipping Box Bag

 

New York-based artist and designer Nik Bentel has unveiled his latest project, the limited-edition Shipping Box Bag. The forthcoming release follows Bentel’s hit Pasta Bag, which resembles a Barilla pasta box and sold out in less than a minute. Last month, the artist debuted a sequel bag, a take on the packaging from rival pasta company De Cecco.

Fashioned out of vegan leather, the Shipping Box Bag features a four-fold magnetic opening, just like that of a standard cardboard box. A white strap fastened to the bag reads “Fragile: Handle with Care.”

After the Pasta Bag, Bentel says he was inundated with requests to design another bag. Known for his satirical iterations of everyday objects, he attributed the idea to create the Shipping Box Bag to cardboard box deliveries.

“I came up with the idea after recycling a whole bunch of cardboard boxes that had been delivered to my studio,” Bentel told Hypebeast. “Even though they were essentially trash, I wanted to elevate the humble cardboard box into something usable again. My goal as a designer has always been to create something exciting from the mundane.”

The bag is available in two different iterations. One is already printed with UV shipping label stickers, while the other is a plain box that comes with a pack of vinyl stickers so that the buyer can customize their own bag.

Nik Bentel’s Shipping Box Bag launches on July 21 at 10 a.m. ET on the artist’s official website. The exclusive release will include only 100 bags, priced at $199 USD apiece.