Which one would you prefer as a fashion accessory: a scotch tape bracelet or a potato chips luxury handbag on your arm? This is what luxury fashion house Balenciaga showcased at the Paris Fashion Week as part of its Fall/Winter 2024 collection.
Fashion is very subjective, and in this age of experimentation and innovation, fashion quirks can go to a level where designers and labels surprise the world with out-of-the-box trends. The pricing of many such products can be unreasonable too.
Luxury fashion house Balenciaga is known for being in the news for bizarre styling in clothes and accessories. Some intriguing yet quirky lineups that the brand has been associated with for years include a tape bracelet reportedly priced at $4,000; a towel skirt priced at $1000. A leather pouch that looks like a full garbage bag comes in black, yellow, white and blue colours, crafted out of calfskin leather with a subtle emblazoned logo, priced at $1,790, besides a Kim Kardashian-inspired handbag wrapped in bright yellow and black tape for $3,100. Even an ‘Hourglass Boot’ that is elongated pointed toe and curved heels on the brand website says, “These boots are made for talking”.7 must-have alcohol bottles to unwind during the long weekendShilpa Shetty Kundra’s 7 income streamsMukesh Ambani’s Jio World Garden is the new hotspot for weddings – The daily rent is…Rolls-Royce Coupe to Mannat: Most expensive things owned by Shah Rukh Khan
The message is clear. Fashion can never be simple. It always needs over-the-top embellishment, garish colours where designers bring out the most unique ideas to amp up sales and steal a customers’ attention — be it online or offline.
For instance, New York-based fashion label Area’s spring summer 2024 collection was all about eyes. The costumes play between the idea of ‘viewing and being viewed’, as this collection explored the dynamics of essentials and the extraordinary, reconstructing the interconnection between fashion and its observers. It is inspired by 1920s cartoon eyes, vibrant pop art, with the designs including Dalmatian spots, blooming flowers, jumbo crystal details and delicate crystal eyelets.
According to the official website of Balenciaga, the towel skirt in terry cotton is part of the brand’s Spring 24 Collection. It is a regular-fitting skirt suitable for both genders. Additionally, it featured an inside-buckled adjustable belt with the brand logo ’embroidered tone-on-tone at front’, listed for $925 on the brand website.
Silvia Venturini Fendi’s clutches shaped like loaves of the French baguette as part of Fall/Winter 2023 menswear collection or distressed stockings by Gucci for a whopping $190 were sold out online within a few hours of launch.
In 2020, Italian fashion brand Moschino designed a baguette bag, a maxi-clutch made with leather and a gold-plated plate for $1,170. Gucci launched a pair of jeans with a grass stain for $750. Bottega Veneta’s noodle shoes resemble uncooked instant noodles, priced at $1,200. Gucci in 2020 launched inverted cat-eye sunglasses that costs $755. KFC X Crocs Bucket Clog, a limited edition shoe covered in a fried chicken print, was around $60.
Luxury label Prada created an openwork viscose turtleneck sweater that resembles a block of cheese, priced at $1232. Givenchy, too, stirred up the internet for its three-toed sandals. Louis Vuitton is selling an airplane bag in its Fall-Winter 2021 collection for $39,000.
Lay’s chips bag in leather for $1500 or a pair of destroyed sneakers between $625 and $1850 have invited a lot of criticism as well for Balenciaga. Netizens have trolled the brand for attempting to utilise an everyday household product as a designer accessory, while others criticised it for poor show of luxury. For the Balenciaga towel skirt, a social media comment said, “A social experiment on consumer behaviour is disrespectful and outrageous”, while another user said, “In economics, we’d say they are discovering the true demand curve. They are checking their customer base to see how elastic they are.”
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/fashion-faux-pas/3463304/
