With styles like this Balenciaga shirt, we begin to recognisee that fashion is more about the hype these days than it is about clothes.
by Rachel Ogbu
As part of its Fall 2018 collection, French brand Balenciaga released a t-shirt with a long sleeve shirt attached to its front for $1,290. As soon as the product image hit social media, fashion lovers and critics had a very expressive meltdown.
Now called the blue T-shirt Shirt, the main concern was; “ what purpose will this serve in the market? And for something not easy on the eye, why is it at that price?
One Twitter user obviously not big on overpriced items said; “This is the new @BALENCIAGA “T Shirt Shirt” to purchase this you’ll need to spend $1,245 ..for a T shirt..with shirt sewed into it…This is not fashion & y’all wrong for finessin folks into thinking they fresh #TshirtShirt”
Another Twitter user also added: “If you’re buying shoes for 10k, Balenciaga for 12k, shirts for 4k, perfume for 2.5k, download music albums for free and you’re one of those dragging the jersey girl but you’ve not gone to drag those vendors in Yaba and CMS, please check yourself. You need help.”
There were hundred more reactions…
TMZ caught up with us to ask us about @BALENCIAGA new T-shirt Shirt pic.twitter.com/YhdkkYfPM0
— Mr. ImSoo 🇱🇷 (@MrImSooFlyy) May 31, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It is not the first time Balenciaga is “trolled” for attention seeking with products that are not fit for purpose. Remember last year when they released a “tote bag” which had a striking resemblance to “backo” bags we carry to Balogun market for food shopping. That bag was priced at a whopping £1,705.
But while everyone is losing their cool, the fashion brand is thriving off the attention. The company says the “striped short sleeves and long sleeves shirts have two wearing options, in other words, it’s good value for money.
Depending on the way you wear it, you can either have a draped effect on the front or at the back. In essence, you can choose to wear it as a T-shirt with the shirt draping at the front or vice-versa.
So what’s your verdict?
As time goes by, with styles like this Balenciaga shirt, we begin to see that fashion is more about hype than it is about clothes. According to The Fashion Law; in the age of Instagram, textile quality, precision of design, innovation, etc., are not what sells products. The all-powerful endorsement is what is driving sales and as a result, it is fashion’s weapon of choice.
Balenciaga was founded in 1919 by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. Its creative director, Demna Gvasalia is said to be steering the brand in a much more subversive direction.
