The concept of the “Destroyed” look isn’t new to the fashion industry. In fact, most people probably own a pair of ripped jeans or a T-shirt with holes. However, the Spanish luxury fashion house, Balenciaga, has now taken the “Destroyed” look to a new level. Particularly, the pre-release photos drew ire among the fashion crowd. It showed pairs of sneakers completely destroyed and ripped apart, dirty and old looking. Almost as if they had been taken out of a garbage bin.
The actual sneakers do not look as extreme. However, the are made out of destroyed cotton and have rippings all over the fabric. They are also colored in a way to make them look torn and dirty. And in case you are worried people may not recognize the shoes, they have a visible Balenciaga logo printed on the edge of the toe. The price of the shoe is eye-watering: a pair of sneakers will cost $1,850.
Soon after the launch, social media erupted and compared it to the “Frakta” bag – a $2,150 bag introduced in 2017 that was supposed to imitate an IKEA shopping bag (which cost 99 cents at the time). Although the bag never really took off, it still generated a ton of social media interactions. It remains to be seen if these sneakers will follow the same path or if there will be a sizable and genuine target group for these sneakers. However, as in the case of the bag, Balenciaga has already achieved one of its objectives: have people talking about the brand and social media trending.
Images courtesy of Balenciaga
