Aeons ago in a fashion galaxy far away (around September 2007 for ordinary human beings...), Marc Jacobs professed himself a fan of SpongeBob SquarePants and of its wicked colours while explaining the media where his bright palette (comprising yellow, pink, and purple) for the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2008 collection came from.
For those who hadn't understood the extent of his passion for the yellow sponge, Jacobs also came out at the end of the runway carrying a bag that incorporated screens broadcasting SpongeBob, while the cartoon character also reappeared on his skin as one of his tattoos (View this photo).
As a popular character, SpongeBob has been featured (even before Marc Jacobs professed his love for him...) on many (authorised and unauthorised) garments for both children and grown ups.
Last year fashion had another go at him: Jeremy Scott's first collection for Moschino (Autumn/Winter 2014-15), an ode to consumerism and junk food that proved that people may be more into his extravagant iPhone covers than into his clothes, included indeed coats, tops, bags and shoes with the infamous sponge.
Yet SpongeBob fans will soon have more yellow coming their way as Forever 21 and Nickelodeon have come up with a men/women's collection designed by Korea-based artist Mina Kwon, and celebrating the worldwide release of "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" .
Besides, London accessories designer Beatrix Ong collaborated with Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products on a collection of luxury SpongeBob SquarePants accessories, home wares and garments that will launch at Colette.
Now, SpongeBob is a little empire on itself with a media franchise worth US$8 billion dollars in merchandising revenue and, while it seems impossible to have anything against him as a cartoon character, there doesn't seem to be much difference (yes, you could argue the price range is a point as Moschino's garments are more expensive) between a garment featuring SpongeBob designed by a major fashion label, authorised lines of clothing manufactured in collaboration with high street retailers or unauthorised copies found on market stalls all over the world.
Maybe the time has come to start thinking about how to regulate fashion via proper laws to provide more creative items for consumers and less trash and pollution for our planet and we'd better do it before a "Kanye West X SpongeBob" collection arrives on the market. In the meantime, bets are open on the next cartoonish obsession of fashion designers à la Jeremy Scott. Pastel goth fans of Adventure Time watch out, you may be the next target group to be exploited...
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