Cynics would say fashion is the quest for the irrelevant by the impressionable. But Prada’s latest must-have item would make even hard-core stylistas raise their fabulously shaped eyebrows: an oversized silver “money clip”, a steal at $185. (Don’t even ask what that translates to in rands; you can’t afford it.)
It's probably no surprise, but slapping a logo on an item renders it desirable, fashionable and very expensive.
Here’s guessing sticking a Chanel logo on a dish towel will inflate the price to similar multiples as Zimbabwe’s exchange rate.
As The Guardian reports, the Prada object is the latest in a litany of designer accessories inspired by the mundane and the everyday.
In 2012 there was Jil Sander's ₤185 coated-paper "Vasari" bag, which was a very expensive xpaper bag. Balenciaga's Demna Gvasalia recreated the iconic Frakta Ikea bag and sold it for ₤1,600.
"Gvasalia routinely challenges what makes something fashionable, disrupting the luxury market like a fox in the henhouse of taste. The weirder the item, the more likely it will sell," writes The Guardian's Morwenna Ferrier.