Marc Jacobs turns graffiti into T-shirt
Marc Jacobs‘s Paris store was the target of an attack by graffiti activist-artist Kidult. The self-styled “visual dictator” took to Twitter to post an image of the freshly painted giant green “$686” and dollar signs he sprayed on the storefront, along with the commentary – “680? 689?…686?! How much are you going to sell this for? #kidultarmyparis #thisisnotart”.
Marc Jacobs reacted, of course, with a tongue-in-cheek endorsement: “Come by Paris Collection for the opening night installation of the new @therealkidult. We proudly support the arts,” they tweeted.
Cleary disagreeing with Kidult’s pronouncement that the tag wasn’t art, the brand posted an album on Facebook showing off the ‘collaboration’, and advertised the shirts with a photo of the tag, which have gone on sale in store for, you guessed it: $686.
It’s not the first time they’ve pulled the trick: back in 2011 Kidult sprayed the Marc Jacobs store in SoHO New York City with a giant pink ‘ART’ tag, which the designer prompty turned into a designer t-shirt that sold for the princely (and seemingly magic) sum of $686.
Who will have the last laugh though? On a one-man rampage against fashion brands which reappropriate and commercialize graffiti imagery, Kidult has previously attacked boutiques belonging to Agnès B, Supreme and Christian Louboutin. Using a fire-extinguisher filled with paint, he posts films of the tagging online.
jt/cm
