In yesterday's post we looked at a trend that may return. Let's continue along the same lines today for a follow-up about a trend that is returning instead – poverty chic.
Balenciaga recently launched an advertising campaign by photographer Leopold Duchemin that featured extremely distressed sneakers that led people to believe the "barely there" shoes were the latest model to be released by the iconic brand.
In reality, that was just an advert to attract the attention of consumers as the actual shoes - the Paris sneakers - aren't as tattered as the ones in the ads.
Reminiscent of Converse' iconic Chuck Taylor, the Paris sneaker comes in black, white and red, and in a high-top and mule version (the latter is basically a backless version of an ordinary sneaker, a sort of DIY slip-on-shoe of the kind you may find on those 5-min hack videos showing you how to recycle or reinvent garments and accessories....).
Besides, you can choose between the mildly distressed version, with frayed edges on the collar, tongue and lacing system, and the very distressed version.
The latter, availabe in a limited edition of 100 pairs, features holes in the textile upper, plenty of scuff marks, a dirty toe cap and wear to the rubber sole on which the name of the brand also appears to be scribbled. Prices vary, going from €395 or €495 for the mildly distressed mule and high-top versions to the very distressed version that will set you back €1,450.
The Balenciaga Paris sneaker is already available in European stores and online via balenciaga.com; throughout May, it will gradually hit boutiques in United States, Middle East and Japan.
Balenciaga is no stranger to rather peculiar shoes, especially ugly footwear like platform Crocs, Croc Boots, and heeled Croc sandals, but, in this case, the Paris sneakers aren't actually the most distressed shoes around.
In 2017 Maison Margiela released the "Future Destroyed" sneakers that looked as if they had been slashed with a razor blade by a furious maniac and then stapled back together, while Golden Goose constantly produces pre-distressed sneakers.
Actually, in the history of fashion quite a few fashion designers appropriated the attires of the disenfranchised and turned them into inspirations for their fashion collections. John Galliano's Spring 2000 couture collection for Dior, with its ripped and aged luxury fabrics, is often considered the origin of the "poverty" or "homeless" chic trend. In that case Galliano took inspiration from street people he saw along the banks of the Seine.
The collection got a parody in Zoolander's Mugatu's "Derelicte" collection, inspired, as you may remember, "by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique."
Using the destitute to make money and looking at poverty as an inspiration, is not a badge of honour; selling poverty to people who can afford buying into it because they don't have to be afraid of becoming poor, only shows that there are enough people who are simply blind to social issues. Tattered, worn out and faux-distressed luxury are usually favoured by those ones wealthy enough to be able to pretend of being poor, but actually being able to escape poverty at any time.
To avoid being maybe criticised for making money out of tattered shoes, Balenciaga turned the story around and, in a press release, highlighted that the run-down look of the Paris sneaker hints at the fact that these are shoes "meant to be worn for a lifetime".
And while it is admirable to remind people that they should wear things forever, rather than throwing them out every six months, you wonder if this message should be communicated through faux distressed shoes that give the wearer an aura of having lived an adventurous life.
In an uncertain society, with millions of people living in poverty, millions of refugees scattered all over the world, and with the war still raging in Ukraine, poverty chic seems inappropriate and embarrassingly uncomfortable.
How can we indeed splash over one thousands euros on distressed shoes that allow us to pretend we've been through Armaggeddon while there are people suffering in Ukraine - like the last ones to be evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol - who have miraculously survived through a real Armaggeddon?
Trends come and go, but, as we already stated in a previous post about this topic, it's about time the fashion industry regained its dignity and made poverty chic untrendy.
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