Fashion is a form of artistic expression and has never functioned as a purely utilitarian pursuit, often being used as a flight of fancy. In fact, the embrace of the fantastical and creative — especially when it comes to high fashion — can be so earnest within the industry that it’s given birth to a general idea that the fashion world is willing to go to ridiculous lengths for the sake of style. The idea, however, is not completely unfounded, with some designers using this creative margin as a way to flex their funny bones with outlandish designs (often with ridiculous pricing) to show the extent that demand and desire can have when it comes to creating hype for their products.
Margiela’s $1,425 distressed sneakers
Here is a sneak peak into five times designers got trolled for their unconventional designs.
Gucci
Luxury brand Gucci has been trolled for selling upside down cat-eye sunglasses for a whooping Rs. 55000. This caught the internets eye and quickly made headlines. “An unconventional take on the ‘50s and ‘60s inspired cat eye frames, these sunglasses are presented with inverted design, creating an ‘upside down’ effect,” Gucci described them. After a writer tweeted, “Gucci why are we doing this[?]”, several others started mocking Gucci.
Moschino
Italian luxury fashion house Moschino has constantly been in the limelight for its tacky designs. This time, Moschino is being trolled on social media for selling a bag that resembles a loaf of French bread, for $1,170. A tweet read, “For that price I could carry a fresh baguette every day for two years!”
Previously, Moschino had also been trolled for its plastic dry cleaning dress. This dress made of a transparent plastic dry cleaning bag raised eyebrows on social media. The dress, which was part of a Moschino collection inspired by trash, garbage and “upcycling,” retailed for $735 and a slip to wear underneath it was not included. The upside of this trendy dress is that if the Moschino model breaks the bank, you can easily snag the look for less by sending out your clothes to get dry cleaned.
Supreme
The conceit of Supreme as both a cultural phenomenon and a streetwear brand is that its merchandise isn’t expensive but it’s sold in limited quantities, so once it’s gone, it’s gone. This skilful employment of supply and demand has only upped the brand’s cool credentials to a cult status, especially among hype beasts who queue up outside their store for hours just to cop the latest “drop.” Perhaps the most illustrative of their wares of this phenomenon is the brick they sold with their now-iconic box logo. While the original bricks were sold for $30 a pop, the resale mark up can reach nearly $1000.
Dolce and Gabbana
Italian maximalists Dolce & Gabbana are fans of all things that hearken to the richness of Italian culture, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that they would debut a kitchen line. While their limited-edition, $110 boxes of pasta brought the heat, it was their hand-painted $34,000 refrigerators that really sent the fashion world into a tizzy. This incident took place nearly two years ago, wherein Harrods had been heavily mocked online after shoppers noticed a Dolce and Gabbana fridge being sold in its London store for a cool £36,000.
Prada
Last but not the least, luxury brand Prada tried to go innovative by launching sterling silver paperclip shaped money clip for $185. Obviously, netizens were less than impressed. "$185 for a paperclip? This thing better be able to hold my life together," one user tweeted.
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