the latest Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration. My initial reaction was disgust, thinking to myself, “Here we go again. How many times have we seen this movie?” It was just another example of corporate pimping culture. The very same styles that were deemed “ghetto” 10-20 years ago are now the subjects of allure and high-class trends. Looks, concepts and creations of the disenfranchised are suddenly heralded by the very uppity snobs who were too good to dress in such “rags.”
Remember the controversy around the Dapper Dan puffy coat? The Harlem tailor (and the rest of the culture) looked up one day and saw a very close resemblance to his original 1989 design on the Italian runaway of a Gucci fashion show. Moncler decided to join the party by charging an arm and leg for almost the exact same design. Mission Co-opt the Culture now results in Balenciaga charging anywhere from $800 – $1000 for some of the most basic hoodies you’ve seen in your life.
The fact that luxury brands can get away with this is even more appalling. We’ve seen this with Burberry, Balenciaga and Vetements to name a few.
Instead of paying homage to the authenticity and lifestyles at the core of these streetwear brands, luxury brands co-opt the movements as their own. High-end fashion solely salivates over streetwear when there’s an opportunity to cash out.
“When the private equity firm The Carlyle Group bought a 50 percent stake in Supreme earlier this month, valuing the company at a whopping $1 billion, it was the icing on a cake that was already in the oven for a while.”
By no means am I naïve to the fact that culture will be capitalized upon, but it must benefit us more than them.
See, one of luxury brands’ most glaring flaws is their attempt to buy their cool. This notion that you can simply