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.”

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.