The first handbag by Lidl looks like a mini shopping cart

If anyone had thought that the union between the design world and Lidl could be exhausted in irreverent marketing operations such as the Lidl by Lidl jacket for the Oasis reunion and the 2020 Lidl sneakers, they will be pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the Trolley Bag, the result of the new collaboration between Lidl and New York-based Nik Bentel Studio, which sees the famous shopping cart transformed into a practical handbag. 

Made of industrial stainless steel — therefore sturdy enough to withstand celery ribs and loaves of bread —, the Trolley Bag is avowedly inspired by the classic convenience store's yellow and blue handle to which a token-shaped key ring has been added, merging in the "ultimate shopping companion", explains Nik Bentel, the practicality of the shopping basket with an ironic interpretation of this daily task. 

The actual launch will take place, not surprisingly, during London Fashion Week at The Lidl Fresh Drop pop-up on D'Arblay Street on February 20 and 21, where lucky people can try to snag it by playing a kind of fruit-themed slot machine from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Even those who will not be in London will still be able to try to win the coveted Trolley Bag via a drawing on the firm's website on the 26th at 10:00 a.m. 

This is not the first time Nik Bentel Studio and Lidl have had fun mixing pop culture, design, and everyday life in a marriage of "utilitarian fashion". Back in 2024, their first fashion chapter was the Croissant Handbag, a leather clutch that almost perfectly replicated the supermarket croissant bag, complete with croissant-purse and, as always, room for a trolley token. 

A collaboration that actually accurately chronicles an interest in the absurdity of everyday life, developed in 2020 after the launch of the Pasta Bag, a life-size reproduction of the Barilla pen box designed to embody the pandemic tendency to obsessively accumulate non-perishable foods. Over the past six years, this ironic and surreal flair has since evolved into a hallmark of the New York-based studio, which is rewriting the rules of fashion: no longer just catwalk, but humor, everyday life, and visual storytelling to turn the most mundane and obvious of objects into an accessory of desire. 

Opening image: The Trolley Bag by Nik Bentel Studio