Botter caught Paris fashion week off-guard yesterday with an accessory none of us anticipated seeing on the runway: condoms? Worn in the style of gloves, audiences saw models file down the runway with their hands encompassed in alive blobs of wriggling liquid, eventually revealed to be condoms filled with water. Over on TikTok, CULTED re-posted a behind-the-scenes clip of the spectacle narrated by Bliss Foster, garnering over 4 million views in only a day and 1182 comments. It’s safe to say Botter caused a stir in the CULTED community. Here’s what you had to say.
In CULTED’s TikTok post, we can actually see the process of how Botter’s soon-to-be iconic ‘condom-gloves’ were made. By stretching the elastic bodies of condoms over models arms, placing their hands in the tip, and filling the make-shift ‘gloves’ with water, the ballooning effect is created before they’re then taped at the top to keep them in place. One commenter, @ladymollyelizabeth, voiced what we were all thinking by saying: “No because i’d accidently pierce it while walking the runway and ruin the entire show.” Thank God that didn’t happen.
We have to question: “But why?”, as TikTok user @bougainvillea11 asked of the accessory. Whilst the DIY process of attaching the accessory appears simple and has an interesting visual effect, it is largely impractical. Even seeing the gloved models walking the runway had audiences holding their breath waiting for one to burst, but imagine them trying to pick something up! Condom-water everywhere. So there has to be more behind them than functionality.
As @ephemeral.rei on TikTok offered, “Fashion shows aren’t supposed to be functional”, and they’re kind of right. Fashion designers are always setting out to create the next controversial, exciting, new thing to make a statement on the runway, and Botter’s creative directors Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh are no exception. But this doesn’t always need to focus on practicality. Although user @catanndfish accurately commented, “Its fashion, not everything has to make sense”, there might be some traceable meaning behind this one.
In Botter’s FW22 collection, named “Dear Earth”, they openly paid homage to the environment and SS23 clearly follows on from this trend. The aquatic colour scheme, wavy patterns, and liquid accessories are a clear nod to the ocean and Botter’s inspiration from Mother Earth herself; the water in the condom gloves might just be another reference to Botter’s ongoing appreciation of nature. Or maybe, like @iiamb0ba says, its simpler than that, and the colours the condom-gloves come in are the real focal-point: “Its crazy how it matches the color of the pants!!”
Whether you love them or loathe them, there’s one response we all have to acknowledge as gospel: that of the condom kings themselves. Durex simply wrote under CULTED’s post: “okay loving this”. So Botter’s condom-gloves got the official stamp of approval; what more could you want?
More on CULTED
See also: MOVEMENT, ORIGINALITY & LEATHER ILLUSIONS: DEEP DIVE INTO BOTTEGA VENETA’S SS23
