As often as MSCHF goes big (and red, and boot), it's willing to go small. Meet the MSCHF Microscopic Handbag, a nearly invisible little speck that's actually a remarkably accurate rendering of a Louis Vuitton OnTheGo handbag.
How small are we talking? Well, MSCHF's Microscopic Handbag measures about 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers. Forget head of a pin — we're talking about dimensions comparable to a single strand of human hair.
And, yet, MSCHF was able to carve a remarkably accurate Louis Vuitton monogram across the Microscopic Handbag, which will be pre-mounted beneath a digital microscope so that its new owner will actually be able to appreciate the detail.
Not that MSCHF is selling the Microscopic Handbag through its conventional channels. MSCHF specifically created the lil' Louis for the "Just Phriends" sale, a forthcoming auction curated for Pharrell's JOOPITER auction house by longtime pal and colette co-founder Sarah Andelman.
MSCHF's Microscopic Handbag will be offered alongside one-off creations made exclusively for "Just Phriends" by the likes of Chanel, KAWS, Richard Mille, and Louis Vuitton itself, though MSCHF told the New York Times that it did not get permission from LV for its Microscopic Handbag.
Not sure if that's going to be an issue — MSCHF has, famously, been sued several times by now — but JOOPITER's Instagram removed the image of MSCHF's Microscopic Handbag shortly after uploading it.
“Pharrell loves big hats, so we made him an incredibly small bag,” MSCHF CCO Kevin Wiesner said in the interview, which revealed the Microscopic Handbag mere days before Joopiter officially debuted the lots for the Just Phriends auction.
This is technically MSCHF's second stab at a handbag, though the Microscopic Handbag is more in line with its art pieces than the actual MSCHF handbag that was released last year.
MSCHF probably doesn't care that it's little behind the times: tiny bags really blew up a couple years ago by way of teensy pouches like Jacquemus' hyper-mini Le Chiquito bag but the point of MSCHF's Microscopic Handbag is clearly to flip the script on luxury accessories, not cash in on a trend.
As clever (and technically demanding) as the Microscopic Handbag is, its limited release will likely prevent it from hitting the cultural heights of MSCHF's Big Red Boot, a cartoonishly huge pair of rubber shoes that set the internet ablaze in February 2023. They just restocked, too, because who couldn't use a pair of thick, insulating rubber stompers for summer?
