It’s not often that a sneaker inspires equal parts desire and dislike, but Balenciaga’s latest limited-edition Paris sneaker, made from distressed cotton and rubber, has done just that.
Resembling a Converse All Star, the Full Destroyed Paris shoe retails for $1,850/€1,450 and is as worn and worn as its name suggests: complete. To most people unfamiliar with luxury fashion and the latest sneaker hypes, these sneakers might look like their lives are long gone.
The product details on the Balenciaga website state that the shoe has rips all over the fabric, a color contrast Balenciaga graffiti logo on the sole, an embossed size on the back, a vulcanized sole and that it is made in China.
The Parisian luxury house offers many variants of the sneaker: high-cut, low and slip-on versions, in black, white and red, but – and here’s the trick – there are only 100 pairs of the “Full Destroyed” edition in total . The following rule applies to sneakers: the more limited the edition, the faster they are sold out.
Luxury items that are meant to look “poor”.
The shoe was quickly criticized by fashion watchdog Diet Prada on Instagram, where comments like, “I guess it’s okay to look poor, it’s not really poor. What a joke”, piled up. Another commented, “This smacks of rich people romanticizing the poor and homelessness.” On the subject of sustainability, another said, “I hope they practiced waste-centric design and pulled these sneakers straight out of the landfill, because that would be awesome.”
“I guess it’s just okay to look poor, but not actually poor. Such a joke”
And that’s where dislike comes in. The shoe looks like it came from the landfill, the fabric is so destroyed it looks like it barely survived the arduous journey of its wearer, and it also sports a big graffiti logo.
Balenciaga claims that the sneaker is meant to be worn for a lifetime and exaggerates the worn aspect in its marketing campaign, but the clientele paying almost 1,500 euros for a worn-out sneaker probably has numerous others, if not a whole one Closet full of shoes. This target group certainly does not belong to the market segment that carries a trend to the point of wear and tear. So what is the statement of this sneaker?
No pride when you’ve worn your shoes off
At the house’s last fashion show, Demna, the designer of Balenciaga and himself a refugee from Georgia, alluded to flight and expulsion. The global refugee crisis has been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but many who flee take few belongings with them, often just a pair of shoes. At the end of this journey there is no pride when one’s shoes are worn out, only weariness and despair.
Demna deliberately uses controversial and political statements in its collections. Last year, Balenciaga was accused of cultural appropriation for a pair of jogging pants that cost over 1,000 euros. A leather bag shaped like a bin liner was part of the latest collection, which graced the Paris catwalk last season.
Stripping everyday items down to the smallest denominator and repackaging them for luxury purposes has long been a tactic used by fashion houses to increase profits and attract customers. When done purely for the sake of increasing profits, it is extremely distasteful.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ