Space, the final frontier. One that brave billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson have pledged to conquer for the sake of the entire humankind, saving our planet in the process.
Space exploration is the latest, hottest trend right now, and we don’t mean that in a disparaging way. What Musk & co. are doing (but mostly Musk through his SpaceX) marks a concrete step in the direction of the future colonization of other planets, while also raising awareness on the most pressing issues that need addressing here on Earth.
They talk of space tourism and the colonization of Mars, and dream a beautiful dream of one day boarding a spaceship as a civilian, for the cost of a plane ticket, and heading to another planet on vacation. It’s the stuff of Jetsons dreams, humanity’s old obsession with space brought into our modern times. This time, it’s backed up by the billions of these unlikely space pioneers, so it feels slightly more doable even for the regular Joe or Jane at home.
No wonder then that this space obsession has reached industries not even remotely related. If you can afford it, you can buy jewelry pieces or watches with lunar dust, or integrating small pieces of rocket debris, or you can buy your own meteorite. Speaking of meteorites...
Photo: Coperni
Let’s talk fashion because we don’t get to do this much around here. For the space enthusiast with a packed wallet and distinct fashionable inclinations, there’s now a Mini Meteorite Swipe Bag, which is a small tote bag carved out of a meteorite. In fact, an entire small collection of them is planned, available for a starting price of €40,000, so roughly $44,000 at the current exchange rate. Payable upon ordering and non-refundable. Space memorabilia is not for everyone, like collecting stamps.
The Mini Meteorite Swipe Bag is based on Coperni’s now-iconic Swipe, a very small tote usually made of glass, meant as a fashion statement than as an actual, functional accessory. Because of its dimensions and the choice of material, it can’t be used in any of the ways you’d use a handbag. It’s too small, too uncomfortable, too heavy, fully transparent, and too rigid to allow you to actually put anything inside it. The Swipe is a status symbol, meant to indicate both extreme wealth and knowledge of the latest catwalk trends, so it caught on remarkably fast.
At this year’s Paris Fashion Week, Coperni introduced the Fall/Winter 2023 collection, including several Boston Dynamics Spot robot dogs (someone has to carry those Swipe tots, after all!) and the most striking variation of a Swipe ever: the meteorite tote. That tote is now available for purchase, with Coperni announcing plans for an entire capsule collection, with each item made from a different space stone.
Photo: Coperni
It doesn’t get any more exclusive than that. Because the totes will be sourced from different meteorites, each one will be unique, with varying colors and varying dimensions and textures. But what they’ll have in common is that a bunch of rich fashionistas will be rocking teeny-tiny tote bags made of stone, weighing heavy on their arm without carrying much inside.
The first Meteorite Swipe is 9 cm (3.5 inches) high in the body, with a total height of just 23 cm (9 inches). It’s the very definition of a tote, small and dainty and highly impractical, but it weighs 1.8 kg (3.9 lbs) empty and is carved out of stone and covered in resin. It is, as Coperni describes it, “a lunar fossil that fell to earth 55,000 years ago, [was] found in France in 1968 and carved in 2023,” certified by the Theatrum Mundi, and if you want to get philosophical about it, the point where space exploration, architecture, primitive art, and high fashion meet. You might not get to carry much stuff inside it, if anything at all, but think of what an excellent conversation starter it’ll be.
Jokes aside, had this Meteorite Tote been a one-off, it would have probably become an objet d’art with a very high collectible value, one that wouldn’t have looked out of place in some museum. This is one of those cases where less is definitely more, and Coperni went into overkill territory with the plans for an entire capsule collection, especially considering glass, and glass and horned Swipes exist, as well as a €100,000 ($110,000) Swipe carved out of gold.
Photo: Coperni
Countless celebrities have already been seen with glass Swipes, so it’s probably just a matter of time before one of them will be rocking the meteorite one in full view of the paparazzi. Instead of bringing the obsession of space exploration into the world of high fashion with a statement object, Coperni turned it into a joke that writes itself. That, and a good self-defense weapon to be holding onto in case of an emergency.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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