The outrage over Balenciaga‘s $1,800 trash bag was greatly exaggerated. Simple as. Certainly, there’s some stuff to unpack here, but the social media firestorm kicked up around the trash bag’s release was outrageous — and exactly what Balenciaga wanted. Earlier this summer, Balenciaga’s Winter 2022 Trash Pouch, which looks exactly like an IRL trash bag, exploded across the internet.

But the drama began in earnest when it was revealed that Balenciaga was dropping what looked like a trash bag for nearly $2,000.