Bernie Sanders Was Recognized as a Fashion Icon on the Paris Runway

Sometimes the world of fashion can feel like an alternate reality, one where men in skirts are the norm, as are dick pendants and other crazy swerves. Today, at the Fall-Winter 2017 Balenciaga runway show, a few days before the U.S.A. inaugurates Donald Trump as its 45th president, another alternate reality emerged, one where America’s favorite socialist grandpa, Bernie Sanders, won the election instead of, well, you know.

PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 18: A model walks the runway at the Balenciaga Autumn Winter 2017 fashion show during Paris Menswear Fashion Week on January 18, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images)

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Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia lifted Bernie’s campaign logo for his Fall-Winter 2017 show and cleverly used it as the brand’s own on T-shirts and scarves and bomber jackets. The collection was inspired by corporate dressing, which meant a lot of ugly-cool versions of suits (perhaps you remember his comically oversize, Talking Heads–esque jackets from last season) and lots of corporate logos, including that of the luxury conglomerate Kering, which happens to own Balenciaga. But the Bernie logos had everyone talking (and tweeting, and ’gramming).

PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 18: A model walks the runway at the Balenciaga Autumn Winter 2017 fashion show during Paris Menswear Fashion Week on January 18, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images)

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PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 18: A model walks the runway at the Balenciaga Autumn Winter 2017 fashion show during Paris Menswear Fashion Week on January 18, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Catwalking/Getty Images)

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Gvasalia, who also leads the design team at the “It” label Vetements, has a fascination with corporate logos, and with riffing on them: He’s played with the Champion logo before, and his first hit piece was a T-shirt with the DHL logo emblazoned on the chest. Last year he presented a collection that was made up entirely of collaborations, including brands like Juicy Couture. Commentary on our current commoditized culture, or a clever co-opting of already-recognizable emblems? You decide.

With the world in political turmoil, fashion fans have wondered if the industry would respond at all to the fray, and this is certainly one way to address the elephant in the room, even if Senator Sanders would no doubt despise his logo being used to push four-figure bomber jackets and $100+ tees. Anyway, while politics may have most people feeling a little uncertain right about now, one thing we can guarantee is that this jacket is going to be a hot ticket item come next fall, no matter the price.