The French luxury brand Balenciaga's new "Destroyed model jacket" sold out in a day after its release. It is a hooded jacket with a severely damaged, worn and torn design, but the price is $950 (about 1.36 million won).
Ken Kuang, a contributor to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), recently posted a video featuring the product on social media (SNS) and said, "The first batch of the Balenciaga Destroyed model jacket has sold out."
The jacket is torn in places while keeping only the basic shape of a hood. Internet users who encountered Balenciaga's abstruse new product also criticized it as "an excessively destructive design" and "a $950 rag."
Balenciaga has long touted "high fashion" and has rolled out provocative products. In 2022, it even sold a hoodie riddled with holes for 950 pounds (about 1.6 million won). In March last year, it unveiled a bracelet shaped like clear tape. Although it looked similar to ordinary clear tape, the price reached 3,000 euros (about 4.95 million won) on the grounds that the Balenciaga logo was engraved.
The Destroyed model jacket is seen as Balenciaga's attempt to push the boundaries of fashion through an intentionally damaged design. As controversy persists over Balenciaga's products, some analysts say the debate over luxury itself brings publicity effects. An industry official said, "It makes people post on various social media, resulting in millions of dollars' worth of free advertising."