The American fast food chain KFC has launched a £198 insulated leather handbag for the British market, designed to be able to hold one of the chicken chain’s Twister Wraps.
The “Wrapuette”, inspired by the Baguette bag of the 2000s which was popularised by fashion brands such as Fendi, Dior and Gucci, is being sold as a limited edition via KFC’s online shop.
According to its website, all proceeds will go to the KFC Foundation which, it says, “supports grassroots non-profit organisations that empower young people across the UK, helping them to fulfil their potential and build a positive future”.
The handbag comes in pebbled or textured leather in KFC’s signature tomato red, and features a monochrome image of Colonel Sanders and a Y2K-style set of letter charms spelling KFC. It is lined with an insulating layer to keep food warm.
KFC says it is running a waiting list for the bag. A spokesperson for KFC would not reveal the quantity produced, saying “numbers are extremely exclusive for now”. They added that the bag was “made from Italian leather and handcrafted on Savile Row”.
“I love it,” said the fashion stylist Natalie Hartley, who has added her name to the waiting list. “It’s so clever. No one would expect KFC to bring out a collectible handbag.
“They’ve hit the nail on the head by going for the Y2K trend. The Baguette bag is iconic.” Hartley notes that the bag’s shape is a “bit more street” than that of the original Baguette.
The Baguette bag, originally designed by Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1997, was so-called because, wrote Vogue’s Laird Borrelli-Persson in a 2015 retrospective of the It bag: “This petite shoulder bag nestles under the arm as easily as the long, crusty French loaf from which it borrows its name.”
Hartley, who runs her own vintage shop, Chillie London, and already owns a KFC bucket hat, is hoping to add the Wrapuette to her collection. Although she wouldn’t sell it immediately, she envisages a strong return on it.
Hartley can see the fashion crowd buying it (“They’ll find it ironic”), as well as “all those celebrity kids - unless they’re vegan”.
“It’s tapping into that social-media savvy Gen Z cohort,” says Jane Collins, senior editor for footwear and accessories at the trend-forecasting agency WGSN. “It plays into logo mania which was so key for that era, and also the high-low trend with its high price point. It’s going to be on eBay in minutes.”
