Balenciaga’s tape bracelet sparks debate: ‘Thought this was a joke’

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Balenciaga’s latest assortment contains a tape bracelet, which has divided viewers since its debut.

In a current TikTook video from Paris Fashion Week, well-liked account @highsnobiety requested viewers if they’d purchase Balenciaga’s new bracelet, impressed by the Scotch tape bought at your native {hardware} or workplace provide retailer. From the trend home’s Fall/Winter 2024 assortment, the accent is a larger a part of the gathering’s utilitarian aesthetic.

The assortment performed with a haphazard, dishevelled theme. Dust baggage have been used for tops, and clear tape was wrapped round some seems to be. Meanwhile, the ultimate look was a design constructed from heaps of underwear, bringing a complete new that means to outerwear. Balenciaga has continued to keep up its tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, however some critics mentioned they weren’t in on the joke.

The bracelet in query seems to be identical to a common roll of clear tape, nonetheless, it’s branded with the Balenciaga brand and “adhesive”.

Internet customers have been appalled that a main trend home would merely flip a common family merchandise into one thing meant to be an mockingly stylish accent. To many, it felt just like the model was persevering with to attempt to make poverty an aesthetic or look, with one particular person writing: “Rich people want to feel poor so bad.”

“Balenciaga just been dropping the junk drawer every year,” one other particular person added, whereas another person joked: “I just bought one… but it’s from a small indie brand called Scotch.”

One particular person admitted that they thought the bracelet was a joke till they “saw the Balenciaga writing,” whereas one other particular person mentioned: “I swear this whole brand is just a big inside joke.”

This isn’t the primary time the model has turned common, on a regular basis gadgets into a sartorial selection. In 2022, the model unveiled the “world’s most expensive trash bag” for its Autumn/Winter 2022 assortment that 12 months. It made its mark throughout a dramatic present that had fashions strut via an indoor snow storm and clutching their Trash Pouches, reportedly impressed by artistic director Demna Gvasalia’s Georgia upbringing. At the time, the cowskin Trash Pouch – which retailed for round $1,790 (£1,470) upon its launch – stirred up controversy as nicely.

The model additionally launched a pair of torn and soiled $1,850 (£1,500) trainers throughout the similar 12 months, sparking outrage. However, not all the model’s controversies have ceded from public consciousness, with one scandal having dogged the model for years.

In November 2022, the style home confronted intense backlash over two controversial campaigns: one which styled kids with BDSM-inspired teddy bear baggage and one other that included SCOTUS paperwork concerning baby pornography legal guidelines within the background.

When talking to Vogue concerning the teddy bear baggage, Gvasalia defined on the time that they have been “referencing punk and DIY culture, absolutely not BDSM”. He added that as a result of the purses have been teddy bears, the model’s picture crew went with photographer, Gabriele Galimberti, who has a portfolio of labor that “often included a multitude of toys placed around a room with kids in the middle of it”.

“That was my big mistake,” he mentioned. “I didn’t realise how inappropriate it would be to put these objects [in the image] and still have the kid in the middle. It unfortunately was the wrong idea and a bad decision from me. We should not have featured kids in images that included objects that were not related and inappropriate to them.”

The trend home has since hosted its pre-fall assortment in Los Angeles, impressed by luxurious grocery retailer Erewhon. Brand ambassadors like Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman each made appearances on the present together with a number of well-known faces.

The Independent has contacted Balenciaga for remark.