Balenciaga Debuts $28,000 Illusion Pants Made To Look Like Jeans
Images via Balenciaga Couture
Ever thought to yourself, I wish I could wear jeans out in this heatwave, but they’ll cling onto my gams like Ross with leather pants?
Well, leave it to designers to come up with a solution for everything, but the catch here is you’ll need €25,000 (US$28,000) to spare. These jeans by Balenciaga aren’t technically jeans, but they’re cotton and linen pants painstakingly hand-painted to appear like well-worn denim.
Why, you ask? The answer is it’s couture. First spotted at the luxury fashion house’s 52nd couture show at Paris Fashion Week in June, the Trompe-L’Œil Jeans, as they’re called, are painted all over by a single artist using oil-based pigments on a “linen-base fabric.”
Image via Balenciaga Couture
Well, they’re better than having paint directly air-brushed onto your bare legs, at least.
For the uninitiated, trompe l’oeil is an artistic technique involving careful shading and perspective play to create a masterful visual deception. The term translates to mean “deceive the eye.”
Adding to the bells and whistles of the look is that the garment isn’t only supposed to resemble jeans but also “classic leather pants.”
“However, they are not made of leather,” Balenciaga stresses. The more you know.
Other details on the “jeans,” like the topstitching, pockets, and holes, are also painted on. Yes, that means even after spilling US$28,000, you won’t have a place to stash your wallet. Hopefully, your very deep pockets can hold out on their own.
Images via Balenciaga Couture
Balenciaga notes that the painting process takes more than 100 hours. All that effort… for a result that looks like something that’s already in your wardrobe.
Image via Balenciaga Couture
If you’re not about to part with a five-figure amount to get your hands on high-end knockoff denim, then the label’s regular, ready-to-wear jeans made with authentic selvedge material may be more of your jam. They’re priced at US$1,150, which is by no means affordable, but makes them a bargain “dupe” in comparison.
[via Neatorama and Highsnobiety, images via Balenciaga Couture]
