It’s easy to pan high fashion for being expensive, impractical and out of touch with reality, and all the more so when a fashion item resembles an upcycled everyday item like a car’s floor mat.
Balenciaga, an upscale fashion house, is under fire from frugal bloggers and social media critics for a $2,200 skirt that someone could arguably emulate with a quick trip to Home Depot for floor mats and fasteners.
Indeed, a fashion-minded do-it-yourself type could find a lot more to work with in all of the various patterns available for these kinds of coverings. Perhaps the lesson here isn’t that they’re doing it wrong, but taking inspiration from an unlikely everyday source (and adding a bit much of a markup).
And the fashion house is no stranger to controversy. Earlier this year, they debuted a bright blue tote back, which internet denizens quickly began comparing to IKEA shopping bags. The company eventually responded in good humor, reminding people they could get the original version for under a dollar.
But as the saying goes: all press is good press, so whether or not this particular line takes off Balenciaga’s ongoing provocations are sure to generate periodic buzz for the business (for better or worse).
