When artist and designer Nik Bentel is asked to describe Lidl, the first word he uses is 'confident'. 'The logo, the colours, the typography, it’s bold and instantly recognisable,' he says. 'There’s no dilution. It knows exactly what it is.'
And while the low-cost German supermarket chain might be an unlikely pairing for a high-profile design collaboration, Bentel just managed to transform the blue and yellow branding and popular mundane aesthetic into something playful, surreal and rather desirable.
The Lidl Trolley Bag by Nik Bentel
Out on 26 February 2026, the Lidl Trolley Bag does exactly what it promises: Bentel took distinctive elements of a trolley (the blue and yellow handle, the metal caging, even the token, which is transformed into a discreet bag charm) and turned them into a mix of industrial playfulness and aesthetic nonsense.
Is it useful? Probably not – we can't imagine a slim metal cage with a chain handle to be the most functional bag to carry around – but as an imaginative branding exercise, it somehow works.
‘The trolley is one of those objects that hasn’t really changed: it’s a perfect industrial object. It wasn’t designed to be beautiful, but it accidentally is’
Nik Bentel
'The trolley is one of those objects that hasn’t really changed: it’s a perfect industrial object; is it is primarily for utility,' Bentel told Wallpaper* when asked what drove him to the trolley as an object typology. 'The metal grid, the wheels, the child seat. It is instantly recognisable anywhere in the world. I love that it’s purely utilitarian. It wasn’t designed to be beautiful, but it accidentally is. When something is that optimised for function, it becomes timeless.'
This is Bentel's second collaboration with the supermarket chain. His 2024 ‘Croissant Bag’ featured a leather croissant purse that fitted into a leather replica of the Lidl bakery bag – it sold out within five minutes.
'I’m always interested in that line between useful and absurd,' he notes, and this becomes clear when looking at his portfolio, featuring pasta boxes-turned-bags, a lopsided coffee mug, and a steel musical ball.
Fans wondering how to buy the Lidl Trolley Bag should head to nikbentel.com at 10am on Thursday 26 February to enter a ballot, or stop by the The Lidl Fresh Drop on 20 and 21 February in London and try their luck on a special 'fruit machine'.
'When a brand has that level of cultural presence and consistency – like Lidl, who have been building a legacy year on year – it naturally moves beyond retail and into design and fashion conversations,' concludes Bentel. 'It becomes more than a supermarket; it becomes a symbol people connect with.
'I like taking objects that are invisible in our daily lives and pushing them just far enough that you see them again. Making them bigger, shinier, exaggerated. It’s almost like highlighting something in bold. There’s something unique about that shift, and I think that’s where the energy comes from.'
The Lidl Fresh Drop, 20 and 21 February, 9.30am – 5pm, 19 D’Arblay Street, London W1F 8ED