Fashion
Luxury Fashion House Branded Racist Over Sweatpants
Luxury fashion house Balenciaga has released a pair of joggers that have a built boxers above the waistband so they appear to be “sagging” and the internet has a lot to say.
The joggers retail for $1190 and selling for £950 in the UK.
The “Trompe L’Oeil” joggers mimic the style that was popularised by hip-hop culture, and has continuously been mocked by those outside the culture.
Many have took to TikTok to accuse Balenciaga of “gentrifying sagging”
@mr200m__You know when something feels racist ?? @sxbwxyy I have questions ##fypシ ♬ original sound – Mr200m
Chief marketing officer Ludivine Pont has pointed out that Balenciaga has often combined items of clothing to make one.
“Jeans layered over tracksuit pants [and] button-up shirts layered over t-shirts” said Pont, Yahoo reports.
“These Trompe L’Oeil trousers were an extension of that vision,” she continued.
Whilst many Twitter users agree it is gentrification, some claim it was just “popularised in the 90s”
“They Racist !” ?
Designed by #Spanish brand #Balenciaga 'Tropme-L'oeil' grey sweatpants feature exposed boxer short built-in above the waistband and sell for $1,190 apiece.?
Critics accused the fashion brand of gentrifying a style made by hip hop culture during the 90s ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/OEu23afUrG— Norgie Pal ?? ??? (@NorgiePaul) September 13, 2021
Marquita Gammage, an associate professor of Africana Studies at California State University has told CNN the sweatpants had “cultural appropriation written all over them.”
This is not the first time he Spanish-fashion house has been accused of racism.
In 2018, a video surfaced showing a Chinese customer being assaulted by a security guard in a Parisian store.
Balenciaga the issued an apology, stating “We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the Chinese customers involved in this altercation as well as to all those who were upset or inconvenienced in any way,”
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