Proenza Schouler PS1 Keep All Small Satchel, $1250 via Net-a-Porter
It’s been a rough week already and it’s only Tuesday. First Balenciaga, makers of my favorite handbags of all time, decided to desecrate one of their classic bags with inexplicably bad fur trim. Now Proenza Schouler, another of my can-do-no-wrong favorites, has made a version of their usually lovely Proenza Schouler PS1 Keep All Small that I just…don’t like.
This bag is not as egregious as the Balenciaga tote, for sure, but most Proenza bags are so effortlessly cool and (in my mind at least) perfect that to see one of the brand’s classics miss the mark is jarring, to say the least. I like the shape and I like the materials when considered individually, but together? Eep.
The issue here is one of tone. Proenza has done well with its canvas PS1s in the past, and this is the same warm beige material that they’ve always used. Layering that with leather or embossed python sounds like a great idea in theory, but with this trim, they chose a color story that has absolutely nothing to do with the base color that’s sitting under it. The foundation of the print is graphic white, cool gunmetal grey and ice blue, which could look more random against a warm neutral. The fiery yellow and red-orange are the final icing on the WTF cake.
Proenza Schouler is usually a master at mixing colors and patterns in ways that make me swoon and endlessly re-plan my wardrobe budget, but I can say with confidence that this is a bag on which I will pass. That’s too bad, because with a few tweaks, it could have been quite beautiful. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1250.
