If our culture hasn’t reached a consensus on this yet then fine… we will: The glass bag trend has arrived, courtesy of the French brand Coperni.
Coperni is most known for its Swipe handbag, which features a scooped-out extended oval that the designers claim is inspired by the iPhone’s “swipe to unlock” icon. From a different perspective, the bag resembles an enormous deviled egg.
The original Coperni Swipe bag gained popularity in the last year after Alexa Demie‘s character Maddy in Euphoria donned a mini Coperni Swipe in the notorious “Bitch, you better be joking” scene. An even more viral follow-up has been intentionally released recently: a much more breakable version of the bag, created in collaboration with Heven, manufacturers of handblown glassware.
To make the bag durable and strong, designers Peter Dupont and Breanna Box utilised a thicker material than usual, which forced them to mould the glass with an air hose rather than their mouths. Co-founder Breanna Box told i-D, “We had to drill in and open it with scissors.” “It was hard to make that shape.”
The designers attempted to transpose the practicality of their typical glassware pieces, which include horned vases and other homeware goods, throughout the process. “Our pieces always have a functionality, and that’s one of the philosophies behind what we do with Heven,” co-founder Peter Dupont told i-D. “This bag is functional: You can put your phone in it, your wallet.”
One minute, you’re in a world where giant glass handbags are rare. The next minute, they’re everywhere. Gigi Hadid carried a clear version of the bag during the Coperni fall-winter 2022 show. Other models had milky blue versions of the glass bag.
The glass Coperni bag was then also worn by two stars at the Grammys, with Doja Cat carrying the blue glass handbag and Tinashe choosing to carry a more muted red version.
Doja used the bag to literally show off her eccentricities by stuffing it with Werther’s Original sweets.
She switched up her look after the red carpet, combining her new gown with a the same colourless and transparent Coperni x Heven handbag that Hadid had debuted at fashion week.
Only a few days later, the glass bag had reached its pinnacle: it acted as both a status symbol and an advertisement for another, much more attainable status symbol. Kylie Jenner chose the bag as the main element of her appearance for the new Kardashian reality show’s press day. Jenner swung the glass Coperni off her fingers. Inside, curious observers could see that it only contained two items: a Kylie lip colour and a Kylie lip gloss.
The glass bag inverts the primary function of handbags, which is to contain and conceal the messy but necessary items of life. Instead, the Coperni acts as a decorative frame around the contents.
The Coperni x Heven bag is pretty transparent – if you will – about what a handbag can be: a method to actually display wealth while still being stylish.