Is that a trash bag or what? was the question on everyone’s mind when Chinese actress Zhang Jingyi walked the red carpet at the Beijing International Film Festival carrying a plain yellow plastic bag instead of a typical luxury clutch or evening accessory.
When pictures from last year’s festival resurfaced online, fans, unable to believe it was an ordinary plastic bag, speculated that it might be the luxury brand Balenciaga Trash Pouch.
The 26-year-old actress, looking stunning in a black dress, chose to carry a plastic bag instead of a usual handbag.
Social media erupted with jokes, memes, and playful mockery over how something so ordinary could appear on a glamorous red carpet, with users calling it everything from “irony chic” to outright absurdity in fashion.
“Zhang Jingyi flexing a $1,790 Balenciaga bag… Meanwhile, the world: That’s our grocery bag,” one user wrote on X.
Zhang Jingyi flexing a $1,790 Balenciaga bag…
Meanwhile, the world: That’s our grocery bag😅 pic.twitter.com/tYtWvZGz7s
— Zîrî (@ZiriVibe2) March 13, 2026
However, fact-checks later clarified that the bag Zhang carried was neither a luxury designer piece nor simply random trash, it was an ordinary yellow plastic bag. Reports suggest the choice was symbolic, tied to her character and the storytelling in her recent film rather than a designer stunt.
#ZhangJingyi: Hello everyone, i’m Zhang Jingyi. In #TheOne (#独一无二), i act as the daughter, Yu Yan ☺️
*host asked about the plastic bag*
👸🏻: this plastic bag… it’s a secret in the movie! this secret will only be known if you go to the cinema to see it ~ 🤭 pic.twitter.com/MhoQ3prM1r
— all for 仪 🩷 (@19990710z) April 18, 2025
Despite this, as the photos circulated online, many netizens speculated the bag was a luxury Balenciaga design, claiming it was worth around US$1,790 (approximately S$2,200).
The truth, however, was far simpler. Zhang had brought a regular plastic bag as a subtle reference to her character in the film The One, where a yellow plastic bag is used as a communication tool between her character and her hearing-impaired parents.
