How to Feel About Pyer Moss' "Looting" Sale?
Pyer Moss is back, and it's having another sale. It ain't your average sales event, either — Kerby Jean Raymond's label is hosting a looting.
On the night of December 5, Pyer Moss took to Instagram to announce its "Loot-Out" sale, essentially an archive plus sample sale centered around a looting theme.
Those who purchase tickets for the event — now available on Pyer Moss' website, by the way — will have the opportunity to grab as much stuff as they can "physically wear out the door within a timed limit of either one or five minutes," per the brand. One-minute tickets cost $100, while five-minute slots are available for $300.
Pyer Moss' exact "Loot-Out" location won't be revealed until 24 hours before the event, which will go down on December 21 and 22 somewhere in NYC.
No cameras or phones will be allowed inside the space (attendants will be on sight to secure your belongings). And, basically, if you can wear the pieces out of the venue, they're yours to keep. Simple.
As far as what the sale will offer, Pyer Moss lists unreleased apparel and shoes, archival pieces and collabs (Reebok?), runway samples, and accessories (hand bags, anyone?) as part of the "Loot-Out."
"The 'Loot-Out' draws inspiration from the luxury fashion industry's global decline, the burgeoning dupe culture, and the recent looting sprees across America," Pyer Moss' website reads. "This innovative sales event offers a unique and exhilarating shopping experience."
Pyer Moss was launched in 2013 by Kerby Jean-Raymond, who calls the label an "art project" and "a timely social experiment at times."
The brand has seen good days and bad days. Some highlights include its critically-acclaimed Spring/Summer 2020 show at Flatbush's Kings Theater and the brand's first-ever couture presentation held not in Paris but in New York, both advancing Jean-Raymond's forte of telling Black stories through fashion.
Pyer Moss worked with Reebok for five years, ending their partnership in 2022 with a last hurrah of footwear and apparel.
Then things kind of went silent. That is until an exposé on Jean-Raymond and the brand came out at the top of 2023, shaking and dividing the fashion world by unraveling the brand's disappearance ("Jean-Raymond sometimes missed deadlines, didn’t always pay bills, started other projects, and alienated allies," according to sources from the piece).
In October, Pyer Moss returned to the spotlight with its Canada Goose collaboration, its first major project since the article. Now, it's having a looting sale this December.
If you have conflicting feelings about the "loot-out," you're not alone. I don't know how to feel, either. It’s interesting in the sense that it's a creative concept instead of the traditional "line up, come in, and shop" layout.
Where the conflicting feelings come in is that it is also a wild and somewhat controversial plan. Even typical shopping experiences have gotten crazy before. So, imagine a looting-style sale. It sounds like chaos in the making, like classic "Black Friday brawl over a PlayStation" type chaos.
Pyer Moss' "Loot-Out" sort of echoes Telfar's unique marketing strategies, where fans dictate clothing prices and shop Telfar bags right from iconic stores within the Black community. Though, Telfar Clemens' programs are typically centered around uplifting themes.
A few see Pyer Moss' "Loot-Out" as promoting criminal activity and negative perception of the Black people. The announcement video opens with the question, "Have you ever wanted to feel like a criminal? This is your chance." Not to mention, the remnants of The Cut's article are still ringing in folks' ears.
Jean-Raymond was prepared for adverse reactions. Another rule for the sale is "Haters and police are not allowed."
