Photo: Courtesy of Vetememes. Vetements, in all of its fancified streetwear glory, kind of captures the zeitgeist of the fall 2016 shows. The line is helmed by Demna Gvasalia, whose Balenciaga creative directorial debut was the talk of the season (also, both of his shows were scrutinized for all-white casting, in a moment when racial diversity is a bigger conversation than ever). Copycats are also another talking point in fashion lately. Lo and behold, Vetements-like, post-normcore, logo-laden looks cropped up right after the originals hit the catwalk (and your Instagram feed).
First, Justin Bieber dropped his veryVetements-esque tour merch (though, there seems to be a Gvasalia-Biebs mutual admiration society of sorts). Now, the brand, which typically commands nearly $1K for its sold-out, so-campy-it's-cool sweatshirts, has spawned a $59 imitator that's pretty damn brilliant (and meta).
Vetememes is currently selling one item, an oversized 'Vetememes'-emblazoned raincoat. The original iteration, which was priced at $185, sold out a while ago (and now fetches $500 on eBay). Vetememes' founder, 22-year-old Davil Tran, works as a customer service rep and community moderator at high-end men's resale site, Grailed. Two weeks ago, Tran launched his parody line, which "reflects the blurring lines between gendered fashion, internet hype culture, and upscale streetwear fiends," according to trend forecasting firm, WGSN.
He decided to solely tackle this particular raincoat style "because of how 'meme' it is," Tran told WGSN. "You can’t look at any street style right now without seeing it. It’s pretty rare that a designer brand resells for [higher than the retail price] and Vetements is doing that right now." The raincoats are currently only available for pre-order; they'll be produced in roughly four to five weeks, according to the site. Tran funded the line using money he'd made from his previous fashion endeavor, Fuccboi, which sold jerseys.
The popularity and absurd "aftermarket" value (a.k.a. the even higher figures the goods command, beyond the original, already high pricetags) of the brand that Gvasalia has built is kind of perfectly skewered by Vetememes.
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