High-end fashion label called 'racist' for new $1,190 sweatpants

High-end fashion label Balenciaga faced flak on the internet after it listed a pair of sweatpants that netizens thought rips off black culture and is “racist” in nature.

The sweatpants are worth $1,190 (£860) and are Trompe L'Oeil pants that feature a built-in pair of boxer shorts peeking out from the waistband, mimicking a style popularised by hip hop musicians.

In their product description, Balenciaga said that 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. She said, "These Trompe L'Oeil trousers were an extension of that vision.”

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Meanwhile, people are not taking this lightly and called the trend ripping off from Black artists as they popularised this during the 1990s and 2000s. The Gen X would remember these sagging pants that would often show the boxers underneath as it became a part of pop culture.

Netizens stand divided on the matter with one section calling it “racist” while the other feels that it was a common trend from the 90s and is not racist at all.