High-end fashion label Balenciaga is facing a backlash, after critics said that a £860 pair of sweatpants it sells rips off black culture.
The Trompe L’Oeil pants have a built-in pair of boxer shorts poking out from the waistband, – a style popularised by hip-hop musicians.
Black culture experts and social media users have called the brand out with some raising concerns the pants could be deemed ‘racist’.
Balenciaga said it often combined wardrobe pieces into a single garment.
Examples include “jeans layered over tracksuit pants [and] button-up shirts layered over t-shirts”, said chief marketing officer Ludivine Pont.
“These Trompe L’Oeil trousers were an extension of that vision,” she said.
The headlines that followed would have been a nightmare for any marketing team, however.