People Are Losing It Over Balenciaga's Trompe L'oeil £860 Grey Trackies

Luxury design brand Balenciaga has left shoppers confused after selling a pair of baggy grey trackies for an eye-watering $1,190 (£859.01).

The sweatpants are described as 'trompe-l'oeil' (trick of the eye) style due to their stitched-in boxer shorts, but many have been left baffled by the high price tag.

After spotting them online, one shopper tweeted: "You have got to be kidding me."

A second Twitter user added: "They really charging a month's rent for a 10 dollar fit."

And a third joked: "Balenciaga done gentrified saggin' sweat pants $1190. [sic]"

Balenciaga)

Some social media users were outraged by the trompe l’oeil sweatpants, as they are officially named by the luxury fashion brand, with many noting that black men are often discriminated against for wearing similar styles.

One Twitter user said: "Sooooo @BALENCIAGA has made pants with underwear tops sewn into the pants to create a "sagging" look...meanwhile..black men have been targeted for years for actually sagging...who tf told them this was a good idea...I swear these companies do stuff like this to garner attention."

The 'sagging' style was popularised by hip hop artists in the 1990s and was primarily worn by African-American men.

It often involves jeans or sweatpants worn below the waistline, with boxer underwear purposely exposed at the top of trouser.

However, sagging pants have been criticised and they have become synonymous with stereotypes of criminality and disruptive behaviour.

Balenciaga)

By the 2000s, schools, airlines and local governments in the United States introduced laws and regulations against wearing trousers that sagged.

Cities in Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina and Louisiana have had anti-sagging ordinances.

In 2019, the Shreveport city council in Louisiana voted to revoke its 12-year-old law banning sagging pants after the death of Anthony Childs, who was stopped by police for violating the law.

A violation could lead to a maximum fine of $100 and up to eight hours of community service, the Washington Post said.

Shutterstock)

The irony hasn't been lost on social media users, with one tweeting: "Sagging pants is ghetto and unacceptable but slap Balenciaga on it and it’s high fashion."

Other users echoed similar sentiments, with Twitter user typing: "There have literally been laws that make it illegal to have sagging pants yet fashion designers are profiting off of the same thing Black people were criminalized for. Dispicable. [sic]"

Twitter)

Twitter)

Twitter)

And another user chimed in, adding: "i vividly remember teachers saying that if we (black kids) wore our pants like this we were just gonna be statistics and not do anything with our lives… just for some years to pass and balenciaga to sell it for 500 bucks."

Tyla has contacted Balenciaga for comment.

Topics: Style