Fans aren’t head over heels for the latest Balenciaga campaign.
On Thursday, the Spanish fashion house released its annual Valentine’s Day garments — but not everyone was smitten with the apparel, which features rips, ragged hems and writing in faux lipstick.
A $595 tattered tee is riddled with holes, while a zip-up hoodie, which retails for $1,190, is adorned with destroyed hems and distressed seams.
On the front of both pieces — available in “dirty white” or “super faded washed black” — the phrase “Happy Valentine’s” and a heart are scrawled in what is supposed to look like lipstick.
Meanwhile, on the back and written in the same “handwritten typeface” is a poem: “Roses are red, violets are blue, I will forever be thankful for you.”
According to Balenciaga’s website, it was designed with the intention of “evoking the heartfelt gesture of personalizing a gift for someone special.”
But the garments were deemed garish by critics online, who mocked the supposed “high fashion” graphic apparel and compared the wildly expensive items to pieces from Zara or Shein.
They were branded as “trash,” “boring” and “mid,” with one Instagram user going so far as to call people “crazy” for “thinking this is luxury fashion wear.”
“Tax anyone who can afford this,” chided one person.
“Giving Shein,” criticized another.
“Some of these brands have just been trolling us. I swear,” another user chimed in.
“H&M makes better clothes than this,” slammed someone else.
“Fire but I’m not spending over $500 on a t-shirt,” one consumer said.
The fashion house has routinely been subject to scrutiny by fashion fans due to its often outlandish apparel that doesn’t meet everyone’s tastes — from the “Barefoot Zero” shoes to the viral skirts that were compared to towels.
