Memes to Moolah: Balenciaga's Top Viral Marketing Hits

In a world seemingly dominated by social media, it can be very easy to push someone's buttons the wrong way, and few seem to do it better than Spanish high-fashion house Balenciaga. While existing as one of high fashion's most popular and worn brands, Balenciaga has managed to nail its viral marketing strategy by often commanding a ludicrous amount of money for some pretty bizarre items.

As the old saying goes "any publicity is good publicity," and Balenciaga certainly embraces this mindset by letting hot off the press meme-makers do half the job for them. Following most of its obscure releases, social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook seemingly explode with memes likening its products to funny counterparts, and as a result, the brand's audience grows.

From its virtual clothes in the Fortnite video game to IKEA rip-offs, whether you love or loathe the brand you can't deny the exposure these items and campaigns bring in. Here at The Sole Supplier, we're big fans of all things weird and wonderful so we've decided to recount some of Balenciaga's top viral marketing hits from the past few years.

AW18 saw the release of one of Balenciaga's top viral hits in the form of the seven-layer coat. This mixed and matched piece sports seven separate unmatch layers in various lengths and colours. Following its debut on the catwalk, this jacket went viral after people likened it to that scene in Friends where Joey puts on Chandler's entire wardrobe after the pair have an argument.

While most people appreciated the joke for what it is was, many also commented on the eye-watering price of the $9,000 piece with one user saying you could "head to your local thrift store and recreate the look for less than $100".

Earlier this year Balenciaga made mainstream news after showcasing a high-vis parka jacket at its virtual reality runway show. The jacket itself sports a high-vis outer with reflective detailing and velcro fastenings and is priced at a hefty £2890. In addition, a "BLNCG" logo is featured on both the front and rear of the piece, further bearing resemblance to tradesman jackets.

Unsurprisingly, the jacket was met with a million memes and comments online comparing it to UK bin worker and tradesmen jackets, with the workers themselves even jumping on Twitter and saying "I'd sell my work gear online if it was worth so much" and "I’ve heard of high fashion but not hi-vis".

In 2018, Balenciaga released a pair of bright red square-toe leather mules as part of its footwear collection. Shortly after release, the Twittersphere imploded once again with a variety of memes and tweets comparing the footwear to the Mcdonald's red fries packets. One user even donned a Mcdonald's fry packet on his foot and posted a photo captioning "Just copped them new Balenciaga".

Just when you thought the fun was over, Mcdonalds Sweden took to Instagram to post a photo of what we can only assume to be an employee wearing a pair of fries packets on his feet. Though Balenciaga was never tagged, we'd be very surprised if this wasn't an indirect poke at the Spanish label.

2017 saw the release of one of Balenciaga's most controversial copycat pieces with its carry shopper bag. Arriving with a bright blue hue in a trapezoidal shape, the resemblance of this bag compared to Ikea's 99p Frakta carrier is simply uncanny despite the £1364 price difference. Just like most of its counterparts on the list, this bag fell victim to a slew of jokes and abuse online with many claiming the Swedish giants should sue for plagiarism.

Luckily for Balenciaga, IKEA had a great sense of humour about the whole situation and instead released a guide detailing "How to identify an original IKEA Frakta bag" with tips such as "Throw it in the dirt" and "fold it".

Balenciaga's battle for eyeballs continued on in 2017 as the brand presented its first collaboration with Crocs via a runway show. The Spanish brand tapped the American comfort specialists for an odd platformed version of its signature model which shocked audiences and simply baited critics and the press. While most of the internet seemingly agreed the shoe was hideous in appearance, the initial model reportedly sold out before even reaching shelves.

Earlier this year, just when we had all forgot about the previous collab, Balenciaga once again shocked audiences by debuting their latest croc model, complete with a stiletto heel on the rear of the shoe. This unmistakably ugly piece is yet to see a general release but we can only imagine it's going to be the next meme piece occupying many fashionistas' wardrobes.

Balenciaga caused quite the stir back in 2018 with its aptly named "T-Shirt Shirt". This piece is a plain blue T-Shirt with a long-sleeved checkered button-up attached to the front of the piece in a bib-like style. Apparently, the piece sports "two wearing styles" according to the brand meaning you can either wear with the shirt on the front or like with a weird T-Shirt cape on the rear.

Naturally, the internet's viral space had fun with this one, with several users opting to create their own budget versions of the "T-Shirt Shirt" alongside the regular spate of memes and jokes. With the T-Shirt priced at a whopping $1290 dollars, we can't see this trend taking off any time soon.

In June of this year, Balenciaga joined forces for an unlikely collaboration with gaming giants Playstation. The duo released two T-shirts and a hoodie complete with a range of Playstation graphics and designs using the brand's original font.

With the shirt reading "November 2020", the date on which the PS5 was first released, this collaboration seemed a tad bit too late to celebrate the launch of the new console and instead appeared like a simple cash grab. With the T-Shirts priced at $675 and the hoodies at $875, this collection actually costs more to buy than buying the new console at the retail price itself.

Following on the PlayStation collaboration, it seemed Balenciaga were keen to further embrace the gaming industry with this month's Fortnite x Balenciaga link up. The duo joined forces to produce both in-game skins and cosmetics as well as physical clothing for the launch.

While the collaboration seemingly bridges the gap between digital and physical spaces, it comes as no shock the Spanish brand commanded a hefty price tag. With the plain white T-Shirts priced at a whopping £726 and the plain black hoodies at £942, both these products cost more than both brand new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles.