Balenciaga is now selling £175 alphabet magnet earrings

Meet the new high-end accessory that will make you both reminisce about your childhood and and go “huh?” at the same time: Balenciaga’s alphabet magnet earring collection.

The brand has taken a past favourite (ranging from £5 to £9 on Amazon) and given it the fashion treatment — which means that you can now wear on your ears the magnet alphabet you used to play with on your fridge.

There’s a catch, of course: This version, made of brass and resin, is being sold for £175 per earring — not to mention that you may not even be able to find your own initials, since the only letters available are those that make up the the brand’s name.

These days, what separates your mundane items from those sold by fashion houses at premium price points is just one distinct phrase à la Tyra Banks: “But make it fashion.” Still, nobody said it would be easy to decipher the difference. Take, for example, Calvin Klein’s £280 rose-pink rubber gloves, Moschino’s Windex-inspired perfume, or Moschino’s £501 dry-cleaner-bag ensemble.

So, are these household items seen through the eyes of a designer (a.) sheer genius, (b.) a joke, or (c.) peak capitalism? As shock culture seems to be a major factor in what we consume, it’s hard to tell. But we think it could be (d.) all of the above.

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