The 5 most WTF accessories of the year

When last November Instagram feeds all over the world was stormed by memes and posts on the absurd release of LIDL sneakers, we started to talk again of a phenomenon widely popular in the fashion industry: trolling. A shrewd means, designed to go viral on social media, to create and sell ambivalent accessories and items, on the one hand deliberately ironic and irreverent, as if to break with the rules and impositions dictated by the industry; on the other, the absolute emblem of the worst (and most successful) marketing in the same sector, capable of charging hundreds of euros for a pair of torn tights. 

LIDL sneakers were just the most recent episode of this phenomenon, which has accompanied the fashion industry even in this troubled year. nss magazine has collected the 5 (+2 bonus) most absurd items that fashion brands have managed to propose this year. 

Moschino Macro Lighter Clutch + Baguette and Croissant Bag 

Everything that comes from Jeremy Scott's mind deserves an honourable mention in this ranking. In fact, the American designer has accustomed us to fashion shows that have almost nothing to do with clothes, but which instead become great media moments to catalyze attention on absolutely useless and over the top accessories. A good example is a clutch in the shape of a maxi lighter, presented during the Pre-Fall 2020 fashion show, set in a train of the New York subway. But Scott did not stop there, and in the following show, the one dedicated to the FW20 season, in a sort of revisited Versailles, baguette-shaped bags and small croissant-shaped shoulder bags walked on the catwalk. All very fun - except that the first bag costs €795 and the second €884. Collectables or trolling over the limit? 

Balenciaga Sneaker Toe x Vibram

What do you get if you combine the brand that has made trolling its art with one of the most beloved and hated sneaker models of recent years? A viral moment, first of all. That's exactly what happened when Demna Gvasalia brought on the runway - flooded with water - of the Balenciaga FW20 show a Vibram FiveFingers model that saw a substantial addition: a heel. Thus was born a hybrid creation, which takes up the iconic Sock silhouette of the French Maison, enriching it with the technical and aesthetic components of a Vibram product. How to style them you ask? That's still a mystery. 

Givenchy SS21 Sandals 

To remain on the subject of shoes, the sandals designed by Matthew Williams in his debut collection at Givenchy, dedicated to the SS21 season, couldn't go unnoticed. They're not exactly Tabis, but not even classic flip flops, the sandals for next summer (which can also be worn with socks) are tripartite, to divide the toes as no one had ever done before. Despite a heel that closely resembles a ram's horn (or a rotten banana), many have found some resemblance to Scooby-Doo's paws. 

Gucci Collant à effet usé noir + Jeans with grass stains

Gucci's release of a pair of torn tights, like those seen on the catwalk of the FW20 fashion show, had caused quite a stir, certain dismay dictated above all by the price - 140 € - but somehow silenced by the almost immediate sold-out of the controversial accessory. Alessandro Michele was able to tick all the boxes on his list: media attention + social virality + commercial success. So Gucci didn't wait around and tried again with a pair of eco denim jeans decorated with artificial grass stains, this time sold for €680. Here the operation perhaps required a greater work of convincing, but in any case, the Italian Maison was able to sublimate highly targeted marketing operations and a certain vaguely (or fake) ironic fashion approach.