Homeless chic? Outrage as New York store sells $585 'distressed shoes' covered with duct tape that 'mock the poor'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Esra Gurkan For Mailonline


A luxury department store has been accused of insulting the poor by selling a 'distressed' shoe 'styled with duct tape' for $585 (£450).

Barneys New York has customers who include both Jay Z and Justin Bieber.

Scottish comedian Limmy is one of those critical of the shoes by a high-end brand called Golden Goose which he called 'poverty appropriation'.

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Limmy tweeted: 'This is poverty appropriation. I've got a pair of Adidas Sambas that are in that state. The sole has a hole in them with cycling. Yours for £499.'

One follower responded: 'Just need a hint of the smell of urine and you have yourself a deal. £trampchic'

An image of the shoe with its price was posted by a Twitter user on Saturday with the caption 'Lmao' - laughing my ass off - and has since been retweeted over 8,000 times.

One wrote: 'The look of poverty shouldn't be seen or sold as fashion. What the f*** is wrong with some people?'

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Another posted: 'The price is just rude, but watch how certain people will wear this and call it style.'

One said: 'I've got a coat with a burst pocket I sewed shut to stop my keys falling down the lining, think they want that?'

Barneys sells clothing from a range of luxury designer brands including Canali, Paul Smith and Yves Saint Laurent.

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[B]Several Twitter users however have joked that the advertised shoe appears to mimic a range of clothes featured in the US comedy film, Zoolander.

Zoolander follows a narcissistic model played by Ben Stiller. One of the clothing lines he wears is called 'Derelicte'.

The range is described in the film as 'a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.'

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With reference to the shoes, one Twitter user wrote: 'This is part of the 'derelicte' fashion line from Zoolander.'

UK stores including Harvey Nichols and Matches Fashion also stock the Golden Goose shoes.

Another added: 'It is straight out of Zoolander. Wow.'

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One Twitter user said: 'Golden Goose 'distressed sneakers' - they gotta be taking the p***'

Another joined in, sarcastically posting a picture of their 'distressed superstar sneakers' by Converse and asking: 'How much y'all will pay for my Distressed 2010 Chuck Taylors?'

Michael Grimm offered a little more insight into the sneakers, tweeting: 'Golden goose sneakers are trash obvi, but smh (so much hate) at people just learning that rich jerks spend whatever to appear down to earth/working class'.

Others, however, disagreed.

Twitter user @RIFAYAYO said: 'Golden Goose sneakers have meaning behind them.

'Do your research... Those 'duct tape' shoes will last longer than any Jordan.'

Another felt embarrassed by the recent backlash, tweeting: 'Just when I wanted some golden goose sneakers they're being made fun of' with a sad face emoji.

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Despite this, the majority of Twitter users did end up agreeing with one another, with one saying: '$585 for trash basically'.

Another said: 'Golden Goose sneakers... they're real, and probably one of the worst product in the entire industry of fashion.'

MailOnline has contacted Golden Goose and Barneys for comment.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:facepalm:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

So how many pairs do you have? :-k

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I have been making them my whole life

[deebakes]

i'm sitting on a gold mine :-k