Like all flip-flops, they are pool attire, good for walking a stretch of scorching sand. And yet the Row’s take on the toe-baring staple, priced at $690, is in a class of its own — best suited, let’s imagine, for a stroll down the starboard side of a yacht.
The Row, the luxury label by Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, is known for simple designs at luxury prices. Often lauded for their personal taste, the Olsens are highly influential in matters of style. Photographs of them wearing flip-flops often circulate on social media accounts devoted to their outfits.
While lacking any distinctive design hallmarks beyond a small logo on their footbed, the $690 flip-flops have attracted a wait list in most sizes on the Row’s e-commerce website. Reporters and editors from the Styles section sat down to debate the polarizing shoes.
Stella Bugbee I recently encountered these in the shoe department at the Nordstrom on 57th Street. I picked one up out of curiosity, only to turn it over and see the $690 price tag. I gasped.
Jacob Gallagher Here’s where I have to immediately come clean that I’m warped by years of covering fashion, because that price, while high, doesn’t really shock me.
Misty White Sidell Believe it or not, it’s definitely an entry point price for the Row’s shoes.
JG In an era in which Miu Miu is selling $1,170 New Balances, why did this price strike you as particularly egregious?
SB Well, for one thing, there is no way to pretend that they could possibly be worth the money. With loafers or boots you can at least say they are meant to last.
MS To me, they exemplify the wealth gap in a very tangible way.
JG I do think they represent a certain lifestyle that people want. I could hear someone justifying the purchase by saying, “I feel like I’m in St. Barts.”
SB Sure. All high fashion is expensive and represents an alternate reality, but these also get at a practice that upsets me on a deeper level. Brands “reinvent” something when a really good version of it already exists — like the original Keds, for example, which the Row also made — because they know customers want a “luxury” version of that item. In my opinion, buying something just because it’s expensive often indicates you have no taste or conviction.
JG This I agree with. I think we are in a grim moment in fashion where no one is really chancing a “new” idea for a number of reasons — shareholder fears, brands being too big and no one really caring about who is designing, to name a few. We’re being served supposedly “elevated” versions of basics we might already own. Fans of the Row consider the Olsens themselves to be the epitome of chic, and I don’t know the twins at all, but I can’t fathom them spending $690 on flip-flops. I’d bet they’re more likely to wear Havaianas.
SB Havaianas are $30!
MS The Row flip-flops embody a larger problem. We have seen sales at big groups like LVMH and Kering stagnate or decline as customers push back against seemingly normal objects being branded as luxury just because of a fancy name and high price. Even some of the wealthiest shoppers are retreating from these brands and feel like their money is better spent elsewhere.
JG The Row has a blue chore jacket for sale right now, priced at $1,650. A similar one from France costs $100. The Row has tweaked the fit and fabric, made the buttons firmer. I could make the case that it improved upon the old version.
SB I’m not saying all things from the Row are bogus, but these flip-flops feel like a stretch.
JG The flip-flops might be the limit of this exercise in making the prosaic premium, but when we glorify celebrities for how much they make and what they spend on clothes, couldn’t you say we’re past the time of judging people’s absurd purchases?
SB Perhaps, but when I came upon the $690 flip-flops, I felt repulsed.
JG I understand that feeling, but I also think we may be overlooking how much wealth there really is in this country. These flip-flops exist because there is a market for $690 flip-flops.
SB I’m not debating that! But “the market will support it” is an argument for nihilists and a critical dead end. You can (you must!) evaluate the merits of something beyond its market viability.
JG I am not a nihilist.
MS But you are team flip-flop?
JG I understand the flip-flops. And I think the sugar high of blasting something for how much it costs burns off quickly in an environment where everything in luxury fashion costs so much. It’s splitting hairs.
Stella Bugbee, Jacob Gallagher, and Misty White Sidell contributed to this story.
