Why spend a few hundred dollars on a ticket to a music festival when you can spend thousands to pretend you went to one?
Balenciaga is selling a fake, “worn and aged” wristband from an imaginary jamboree for a whopping $3,800 — a lot more than you’ll pay to attend events like Coachella (from $549) and Bonnaroo (from $350) in 2025.
“Gone are the days, apparently, of earning your festival stripes through actual experiences,” a critic at EDM.com sniffed.
But the fauxmento isn’t available to just any poseur. The Raver Used Bracelet is available for purchase by appointment only.
“This distressed version requires the skills of an artist to imbue it with a worn and aged look,” and “requires a full day’s work for each piece,” according to the designers.
For couture customers who don’t want to style the “worn and aged” look, Balenciaga released the Raver Bracelet.
The accessory looks like the Raver Used Bracelet on the first day of the fake fete and costs nearly $4,900 to look like you’re about to have a good time.
The accessories are made of pink, black and blue polyester, metalized polyester, cotton and sterling silver 925 that is hand-embroidered using “various artisanal techniques” including those found in the Lesage archives — the world’s largest collection of artistic embroidery — dating back to 1850, the brand advertises.
But despite the brand’s attempts to justify the high price tag for the dingy mock accessory, many people were not sold.
Some online critiqued the jewelry piece for being an overpriced piece of “subculture appropriation” for “fools who can’t handle a festival but want to be seen as having attended one.”
The bracelets are part of Balenciaga’s 53rd Couture Collection, which debuted at Paris Fashion Week last month.
The collection also included the $250 Paris Souvenir Champion Bracelet silicone set in red, white and blue, an expensive play on the silicone rubber wristbands that overtook the band and charity scene (remember LiveStrong?) in the 2000s and 2010s.
The luxury adornments are the latest of Balenciaga’s costly take on cheap and everyday items — the Gaffer Bracelet resembles a roll of clear tape, there is a Balenciaga lunch box and a $1,800 handbag that resembles a plastic bag of chips.
