Fashion is, more often than not, the neglected and misunderstood sibling of the creative arts. Only a royal wedding, celebrity wardrobe malfunction or catwalk mishap tend to garner a second-look from the press, but each season one or two items or moments do get picked up and discussed. From Craig Green inciting the ire of the right wing British press with his “oak couture” sculptures to Rick Owens’ humour harnessing “human backpacks” and Gucci igniting imaginations with its severed heads and baby dragons, the goings on of fashion week occasionally move beyond the safety of industry insiders and cross over into the mainstream. The result often leads to devlish derision and meme mastery. When Joe Bloggs becomes a fashion critic it is usually just to pointed and laugh at it. As the first autumn/winter 18 product begins to drop online, Balenciaga has become the latest victim of the general public’s lack of imagination.
Over the weekend, the house that Demna Gvasalia has radically renovated lit up social media as keyboard warriors, meme makers, trolls and bemused normies were united in confusion. From the T-shirt shirt’s construction to the overdraft damaging £935 price tag, fashion could not be fathomed in this instance.
The post that made us LOL the hardest came from a gamer that created his own quick-fix sellotaped DIY version. We can all be more like Mike. However, most posters were just confused. “I’d like to think I understand high fashion, and have no problem shelling out some cash for Gucci, LV, etc., but this…?” explained one Twitter user. As it reached ‘Moment status’ the story was picked up by journalists. “Is this the most bizarre shirt ever? Fashion fans baffled by Balenciaga’s £935 ‘T-Shirt Shirt’,” explained the red top Brexit defender and occasional fashion policers, The Sun. “Bizarre new T-shirt is confusing shoppers — and it’s ridiculously expensive,” echoed a headline of its red top chum The Mirror.
Now, we accept that the combination of two everyday wardrobe staples could be seen as bizarre by many but we take umbrage in The Sun’s use of “fashion fans” here. Most of the opinions voiced aren’t coming from fashion fans but rather the good, bad and funny of the internet. “High fashion can be a bit, well, strange,” explained The Mirror. It can be and that’s why us true fashion fans love it. In an instant we can fall in love, recoil in disgust, start to daydream or look to forget. From platform crocs to reimagined Ikea bags and ugly sneakers, Demna has a knack of dividing the internet and these hybrid items are just the latest pieces to spark debate. Is it any wonder that his Balenciaga is the world’s most most popular — and talked about — brand right now?