Why is luxury fashion so expensive? This is a question that has often been raised. In fact, it has been revisited more than ever in the past decade or so. The reason is simple. When luxury brands like Saint Laurent and Gucci first started, they won customers because of their impeccable craftsmanship. Consequently, people automatically started equating luxury fashion with top-notch quality. However, in the past couple of years, a lot of brands have actively exploited this assumption. Italian brand Bottega Veneta is surely one of them.
I mean, back in the 1960s, the brand attained its iconic status owing to the fine artisanal leather and distinctive weaving design. Surely, paying a bomb for that quality must have felt alright to so many. Well, cut to 2021 and Bottega Veneta is selling jewellery that doesn’t look too different from the cable tie-inspired plastic bracelets that we used to get free with cheap candy packets. Seriously, we kid you not!
International fashion watchdog Diet Prada, recently shared a picture from Bottega Veneta’s latest jewel collection while comparing it to telephone cables, the kinds that we used to have in landline phones. The worst thing here? Every single piece from the collection is being sold at a whopping price. One of the necklaces from the range has been priced at 2000 USD which rounds off to almost 1.5 lakhs INR.
As it turns out, the brand has nicely lifted off from the basic, everyday designers on cheap, fashion sites and are trying to peddle off their jewels as luxe, fancy creations now. In fact, Diet Prada has signaled out yet another piece from Bottega’s jewellery collection. This too is a common design often sold by Native American craftspeople, is popular for its kitschy appeal, and more importantly the cheap price. Well, Bottega might have taken a lot of inspiration for the design but the price is certainly their own. It is being sold by the brand for 3390 USD which rounds off to 2.5 lakh INR.
“Would love to see a cost breakdown analysis of this $3,390 beaded Bottega necklace lol,” Diet Prada says and well, the netizens agree. In fact, they have started searching cable ties on the internet so as to compare the price of Bottega jewels and boy, it does not look good for the brand! Just in case you are wondering, you can get one of these telephone extension ties for as little as Rs. 199 on Amazon India.
Of course, the internet is oscillating between amusement and fury. Here’s how the netizens are reacting:
Closer home, we have designers selling polyester dresses and silk lehengas at exorbitant prices. Once again, the responsibility falls on the consumer to dodge the bullet and become smarter with their shopping habits. The “perks” of living in a capitalist world, one would say!
Featured Image: Instagram
