Are Portable Speakers the New Luxury Bags?
Summer is here and Fendi's newly released line of portable Mania speakers made in collaboration with Devialet is set to make your "speakers go hammer" like Soulja Boy at a house party in 2010.
Damn, 2010 was a great year to be alive. BAPE-Stas, TI$A snapbacks, and shutter shades were still fly. But let's keep it 100: the portable Beats Beatbox speaker Soulja Boy flexed in this music video looks absolutely insane today.
I frankly forgot that (even decades after everyone stopped toting around boomboxes) portable speakers were still ridiculously big back then. Based on some Googles, I've learned that Soulja Boy's Beats Beatbox wasn't even able to connect to Bluetooth and its dimensions are only just barely larger than your average shoebox.
Now look at how far we've come!
We don't just have Bluebooth portable speakers that can fit inside tote bags, but ones that double as luxury bags! And this newly-released Fendi x Devialet Mania piece was presented as such during Fendi Men’s Fall/Winter 2024 runway show in January.
This collaboration between Fendi and Devialet is currently available for pre-order for $3,100. It's centered on one of the audio brand's most popular portable speaker models, the Devialet Mania, which boasts 360-degree surround sound, runs for up to 10 hours, and boasts plenty of other sound specs that would likely most intrigue staunch audiophiles who spend more money on vinyl than luxury goods.
It's worth noting that this isn't the first high-end fashion/portable speaker hybrid to hit the market. In 2021, Louis Vuitton produced its own portable speaker inspired by the look of the spinning top bag created by womenswear creative director Nicolas Ghesquière (also priced around $3,000, naturally).
Other fashion labels outside of the luxury space, like ADER ERROR and Supreme, have also released their own lightweight speakers, though their efforts are comparably affordable.
But now, for nearly the same price it costs to rent an one-bedroom in Bushwick, one can own a Fendi Devialet Mania. Yes, it features the exact same specs as a normal Devialet Mania that retails for $800 but costs $2,300 more because it's covered in Fendi's familiar FF monogram fabric.
Many would balk at the mere notion of spending that much money on a portable speaker. It's true, $3,000 could arguably be better spent investing in a great home audio set-up rather than an expensive speaker to bring to the beach.
But if anyone's snubbing this portable Fendi speaker off the price alone, they're missing the larger point here. Like Soulja Boy aptly showed us in the music video for "Speakers Go Hammer" portable speakers have been a flex for decades. Never forget how Radio Raheem cooly presented how powerful his Promax Super Jumbo boombox was in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing.
Shit, even though this film came out in 1989, if you're pulling up with a portable speaker in 2024 this is still the type of time you should be on. So whether it's a classic Beats Pill or a Balenciaga speaker handbag made in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen, a portable speaker could become your loudest expression of style. Just step out and make some noise.
