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Balenciaga is making you rethink what you wear with this ‘T-shirt shirt’
Balenciaga has been making waves over the last few years after Demna Gvasalia took over as creative director in 2015, most known for his ironically expensive brand Vetements that recreated the hooded sweatshirt in 2015 and 2016 with its oversized cut and stark designs.
Balenciaga under Demna has been called “new couture” and “elevated streetwear” which is the best way to describe the feeling of paying $980 for a hoodie.
This oversized cut look has infected every facet of fashion including the legendary Triple S Balenciaga sneaker which takes a Raf Simons Ozweego looking sneaker and adds two soles creating a platform-sneaker.
The sneakers have created a storm of recreations that we will be living with for years but in the meantime, Balenciaga has a new trend for everyone at Kering and Vogue to get behind, the t-shirt shirt.
Balenciaga’s $1,290 “T-shirt shirt” is a t-shirt with oversized short sleeves and a traditional length torso with a button down flannel pattern dress shirt straight up sewn to the crew neck of the shirt being worn.
Yes, it’s a shirt on a t-shirt, and it looks unwearable in the photograph Balenciaga is using to sell the shirt.
whoever is the designer for balenciaga has to leave… pic.twitter.com/XhvMxVzwov
— ♡ (@electrawaves) May 27, 2018
The real question we all have is “how?” How can a brand sell stuff like this and still stay above water?
The answer is millennials and men, in general, are buying more Balenciaga than ever and its changing how they run their business. According to Balenciaga CEO Cedric Charbit, he said,
“Millennials represent 60 percent of what we sell… Together with men, these are growing faster than any other category.”
With the recent rise of high-end streetwear, Balenciaga has benefited from being at the forefront of wave changes in the climate of fashion style.
Gucci is another example of a brand that is killing it with its crazy 70’s look within the last year is no surprise that Gucci grew almost 50% in the last 2 quarters, but compare that to Balenciaga with the growth of 100% in certain areas.
With developments that big it’s no surprise that Balenciaga is doubling down on the style side with more and crazier designs, as everyone freaks out about the t-shirt shirt another crazy garment has gone unnoticed, the $1,490 “Double Shirt” it cost more than the t-shirt shirt and no one has written an article about it so it must be okay.
These types of style choices are polarizing people into 2 camps, ‘this is crazy’ and ‘this is fashion’. That polarization is what is fueling these wild and wacky cut garments, staying current and stylish whilst at the same time looking good.
We are definitely in a crazy wave right now with what people are wearing and designing, but like any socially affected climate, it is always changing and creating new pockets of attention and hype.