As we have learnt from previous posts, in fashion it is often the case that bootleg designs are more popular and more interesting than the original ones. Humorous designs that play around with logos, fashion houses and designer names, often transforming them into puns (think about the "Versace da bere" T-shirts - literally meaning in the Rome dialect "Pour us (Vérsace) something to drink"), are also quite popular.
And so it happened that a few months ago Los Angeles-based streetwear brand Cloney, that usually produces designs with funny references and puns inspired by pop culture, fashion and music, did a Covid-19 vaccine inspired black hoodie with the trademark Valentino "V" signature logo accompanied by the word "Vaccinated" in Valentino red (well, what else?).
Retailing at $190, the hoodie was hilariously cool and perfectly timed. Cloney may have even gotten away with it citing parody if Valentino had ever sent them a cease-and-desist letter, as you do in these cases.
Instead, Valentino Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli at Valentino bought five hoodies, kept one for himself, gifted the others to friends, including Lady Gaga, and sported the look in an Instagram post that caused a sensation this past August.
Things went further, though: humoured by the design and realising its potential, Piccioli decided to actually contact the brand's founder, Duke Christian George III, but not to sue him. Together they reached indeed an agreement, turned the hoodie into a Valentino x Cloney collaboration and now Valentino produces the same hoodies in its factories featuring both logos.
Launching tomorrow on Valentino's online shop, the limited edition Valentino/Cloney luxury hoodies promoting vaccination retail now for $690, but 100% of the profits will be donated to UNICEF to support its work with the World Health Organization's global COVAX program, that helps distributing Covid-19 vaccines, treatment and testing.
Valentino's creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, shared his thoughts about the collaboration in a statement published on Valentino's official Instagram page, explaining: "Getting vaccinated has become the most effective way to fight this global pandemic, as well as a symbol of respect for others and social responsibility. One cannot hide behind the concept of freedom by deciding not to get vaccinated. Freedom must always be protected, and we must all fight for freedom but respecting others: the freedom to be ourselves, the freedom of thought, the freedom of love, the freedom to express and fight for our own ideas."
All's well that ends well, you may say, but while this limited edition hoodie is for a good cause, fashion-wise it is disappointing to think that a luxury house would have never thought about releasing such a clever Insta product if Cloney hadn't bootlegged it before. So, yes, it looks like bootlegs still look more entertaining, fun and spot-on than original designs.
For what regards "Vaccinated" designs, well, you can get Valentino X Cloney's hoodie if you can afford it or opt for the many "I'm vaccinated" T-shirts and tops, often supporting science and legendary Dr Fauci, that have mushroomed on the Internet over the last few months. Even better, you may just get vaccinated and get a Green Pass or Health Pass, a document now trending all over Europe.
The hoodie arrives indeed while regulations about the so-called Green Pass (a document released when you get vaccinated or when you test negative, in this case it is valid for 48 hours) are tightened in Italy and the pass becomes necessary to access not just cultural and leisure venues (cinemas, theatres, museums, theme parks or cultural centres), restaurants, bars and gyms, to work in hospitals and schools, but it is extended also to all public and private sector workers.
The Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") on COVID vaccinations is instead currently being drafted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") in the States. US President Joe Biden announced last week that all private employers in the United States with 100 or more employees will need to make sure their workforce is fully vaccinated, while unvaccinated workers will have to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before accessing the workplace.
Most people do support vaccines and, at the moment, most of the people hospitalised with Covid-19 in Europe are unvaccinated. So brands supporting vaccinations and mandates regarding green and health passports may encounter the favour of consumers, especially of the young adults who welcomed vaccines as soon as they became available for their age group and who may want to take their pro-vaccination position further by buying into Covid-19 vaccine merchandise.
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