In case you missed it, over the weekend in the comments section of a previous Banksy post, it came out that Banksy or “Banksy” paid a special visit to Valencia Street denim wonderland Self Edge. Understandably (?), this news set off a FIRESTORM OF DEBATE.
Photo by nowhere500.
Previously:
, this news set off a FIRESTORM OF DEBATE. Photo by nowhere500. Previously: Obsessed With Denim</p>
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Now a bunch of Fauxhemians are gonna buy $300 pants just to be…well…Faux. Great self promo…I mean, Self Edge.
I didn’t know what to make of Self Edge when it opened, and I will never shop there since I only wear cheap jeans(/clothes in general), but I’ve got some respect for how Kiya keeps his cool in these threads. He takes an awful lot of shit that I’m not sure is deserved.
It’s deserved, don’t worry about it.
Agreed.
Definitely deserved.
You know, I used to be a regular customer of Leather Tongue Video. Then they became the modern equivalent of a buggy whip store. Then they were replaced by Self Edge, and I didn’t worry about it anymore, because that space was as useless to me as vaudeville. Buh-bye! Get an American Apparel, dude!
I totally buy Kiya’s story. It doesn’t seem far fetched to me at all. I question his judgment for posting about his celebrity clientele’s shopping habits, however.
I don’t really know anything about Kiya or the denim store that he works for/owns, but it seems fairly obvious to me that this guy is trying to cash in on the Banksy craze by saying he privately shopped there. Give me a break! Not a chance in hell. Banksy repeatedly uses anti-commercial, anti-capitalist themes in his artwork and closely guards his identity. I really doubt that he would drop $300+ on a pair jeans, not to mention ask for special privileges to shop privately. Yeah, I understand that a lot of celebs and artists arrange these types of ludicrous shopping excursions, but really you would have been more believable claiming someone else like Paris Hilton or some other Hollywood tramp came to your shop.
Because he’s anti-capitalist, he can’t have nice pants? What do you think, he sews his own?
Allan, is there no middle ground between $300 jeans, and hand made ones?
Hmmm, I wonder what these are about my legs.
No, I but why would anyone in their right mind spend $300 or more on a pair of jeans, when you can get just as good a pair for $60, or even $20?
I really have a hard time imagining Banksy as so vain and vapid that he feels the need to frivolously spend $$$ on some denim with a sparkly sunglasses-wearing frog patch sewn into them.
Just doesn’t really strike me as the type of high profile thing someone with a notoriously low profile would go off and do.
You guys, we’ve been over this. The price tags at Self Edge are all about quality. Pants there might cost five times as much as Levi’s, but they last five times as long. No holes in the knees, etc, etc. It’s like how a cocktail at Beretta costs more than a cocktail at Clooney’s because the cocktail at Beretta is soooo much tastier.
Wow, someone’s drinking the kool-aid. Banksy’s nothing more than a brand marketer masquerading as a sociopolitical commentator. Dude is flush with cash. He’s got to spend it on something.
Ok, ok I give on the point that Banksy most likely has tons of cash and also most likely spends it in large wads at a time on ridiculous items.
I just don’t believe that he went out of his way to go on a private spree at a denim store when he could just as easily gone in anonymously.
But then again, maybe he did. I did forget to mention that I own a McDonald’s in the Tenderloin and I closed it down for 3 hours last Saturday for Banksy to have his run on the private collection beef patties in the walk-in.
@ banksy’s assitant Real talk.
I agree,in the end, they conform.
I’m guessing nobody here realizes that Banksy commonly goes to Dover Street Market (London), Colette (paris), Beams (tokyo), and other high profile boutiques during off hours to buy things FAR more expensive than the jeans and shirts at Self Edge.
This is not only known by all his collectors but the owners of these stores have come out to talk about his buying habits for over twenty years within the industry.
Awww, now I’m starting to just feel bad about this.
But people have been “talk[ing] about his buying habits for over twenty years within the industry?”
Your story’s really starting to crack here. How was Banksy purportedly funding his proclivity for fine denims twenty years ago when he wasn’t making squat on his work, let alone no one knew who he was back then.
C’mon man.
Shoe Cobbler: Yeah, so this Banksy kid had me shut down the store last night to repair his Testonis.
Pantier: Tell me about it, he came in last week and bought out all of my pleated slacks. This kid’s a nuisance, I tells ya.
Shoe Cobbler: Maybe, but I gotta feeling he’s gonna be somebody. Keep yer ear out for news about this one at the next clothing sellers convention in Livermore.
no ok, I’m sorry. I’m just being a dick now.
No hard feelings ok.
Self edge is a great denim store. Its a MOMA of denim. It worships and fetishizes its medium.
If you count the hours you wear a great pair of jeans, $300 is not a that big deal. Its an ounce of good pot.
And someday, when you’re old and married and still in love, you will be able to remind yourself that the only reason that lovely woman agreed to a date was because she looked at your jeans and said: “Self, that cute drunk boy-man at least has edgy taste!”
I’m not kidding. Get with the program guys. Ironic doesn’t last forever, but good genes do.
The jeans are a bit pricey for me but I hear what you are saying about the good quality of the materials. However, what about the $300 cotton flannels? Aren’t they the equivalent of an expensive designer type shirt but more hip looking? I mean, $300 for a cotton flannel? How is this different than a guy with a $300 shirt from Macy’s that says armani across the front?
I hear what you’re saying. But have you tried on one of those flannels? I tried one on once, and it was indescribably comfortable. Maybe Kiya can explain why.
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