eAt ThE rIcH - 長袖上衣

Umbro Tracktop from the eAt ThE rIcH collection, 2021.
The collection was showcased at the Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show 2021, Modern Craft at MAD Brussels in 2021, and FASHIONCLASH 2022.

The tracktop, originally sourced second-hand in Eindhoven in fall 2020, was embroidered at the Textiel Lab in Tilburg in December 2021. Designed by Aurélie Defez, the embroidery features a quote from Donald Trump: “I was just a businessman doing business,” accompanied by visuals referencing economics.

The tracktop measures 60 × 47 cm [sleeves 60 × 38 cm], featuring black fabric embroidered with light grey thread.

Collection statement
In fashion, garments and aesthetics emerging from popular classes have become a model of reference for luxury brands. However, by offering these appropriations at unaffordable prices, these brands confirm their elitist position in the disposition of a legitimate taste. eAt ThE rIcH is a collection of garments that aims to take a satirical look at the commodification of popular cultures and aesthetics. Quotes taken from internet memes are embroidered onto clothing and accessories symbolically and historically associated with popular classes, creating an ambiguous narrative around these symbols. By combining “cheap” garments with embroidery, the project aims to challenge a hierarchic organisation of tastes.

The embroidery fulfills two purposes. As an embellishment technique, it historically evokes ostentation and wealth. But, at the same time it also adds this additional layer of information; which are sentences taken out from widespread memes. Just as a meme works with an image juxtaposed to a sentence creating a new narrative, here the image is replaced by the garment.

It is from the combination of the embroidery and the clothes that the comic twist can happen and makes it possible to question the way we perceive and almost fetish luxury fashion.