Listen, I'm a sucker for some good fashion weirdness. Did I used to watch the Met Gala with a glass of wine and pretend I was the late, great Joan Rivers and have some fun on Twitter back in the day? Yes, yes I did. And thankfully my account is now wiped from existence.
But as much as I love those out-there designs, and being catty about those same garments, I also have to call out grift when I see it. And the folks over at Balenciaga are really trying to pull a fast one on the susceptible high-fashion snobs with the brand's Pantashoes.
I mean, for the motorcyclists in the room, what do these look like?
Folks, I know you have more cash than God, but these are knock-off motorcycle pants. Worse yet, because it has its name inscribed on the tag, Balenciaga wants a staggering $12,500 for these abominations. They're just motorcycle track pants sewn together with a set of boots. You can do this outfit, but likely better, by just pulling up Alpinestars, REV'IT!, or Dainese and get much better quality. Cause based on how these look, I bet they're Joe Rockets...
What's truly funny is all the folks cosplaying as Balenciaga fans at your local trackway, who are spending way less than the price of a nice motorcycle. It'd cost you less than $2,000 just by hitting Buy It Now from RevZilla.
Again, I'm all for oddities and inspired designs, but this is stupid and it also goes hand-in-hand with the brand's idiotic "gaffer bangle bracelets" which are just clear packing tape with a cardboard center and its name inscribed on it. Wanna guess how much they want for that? $3,300.
There's a part of me that does wonder if Balenciaga is either in on the joke or actively trying to see how many people it can rook into believing these pieces are actually high fashion. Like a wine sommelier pretending a Bordeaux from 1913 is actually good because it costs a lot when it's actually trash. How many people can they fool? Let's find out!
Anyway, if you want to show up at Milan's Fashion Week this year and pretend you're sporting Balenciaga, hit up your local motorcycle store, Amazon, or RevZilla and complete your leuk for way less cash.
I guarantee no one's gonna know the difference.
