Vetements and Its $924 Replica T-Shirt
Turns out the DHL shirt from Vetements’ spring collection, which retails for $330, is just the beginning of the thrift-as-luxury ride. The buzzy label’s latest upcycled curiosity, an oversized replica of a vintage Snoop Dogg T-shirt, comes with a fashion-victimizing price tag of $924 (by pre-order at SVMoscow).
Discovered by a Twitter user, who posted a side-by-side (see below), the high-priced vintage appropriation has sparked a mini-furor across the blogosphere worthy of the brand’s disruptor aspirations.
On the one hand, supporters point out, it’s a limited-edition item, thus not cheap. Plus, licensing fees are apparently factored in, paid to Death Row records, makers of the original merch in 1993, taken from Snoop Dogg album art, itself taken from photog Dan Winters’ cover shoot for VIBE magazine.
On the other hand, say detractors, it’s merely studied rejection of originality and exploitation of hype — hardly the change anyone was looking for.
Either way, Snoop Dogg is the new DHL.
— Chad (@Fourty8XL) April 13, 2016