Shopper calls out ‘scammery’ on overpriced celebrity fashion line: ‘Slapping your name on stuff doesn’t mean it’s fashion’

The clothing line from Brooks Marks — son of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member Meredith Marks — did little to inspire even his own following.

One person wrote about it on r/RealHousewivesofSLC. “Has anyone actually seen Brooks Marks ‘fashion’?” they asked. The photos they attached included khaki pants, a sweatshirt with a hood that appeared to be attached in the wrong direction, a black and white tracksuit, and a keychain with Marks’ own name on it.

“NONE OF THIS IS FASHION,” they vented. “Slapping your name on stuff doesn’t mean it’s fashion. Also those pants are pants I can buy basically anywhere?”

Commenters agreed. “Slapping his name down the sides of the world’s most generic tracksuit isn’t innovative or interesting,” one criticized.

“So bad it’s comical,” another said.

To add insult to injury, OP included the prices, which started at $16 for the self-monogrammed keychain and soared to $174 for the khaki pants. 

“These prices for such mediocrity,” one person wrote. “Completely unjustifiable and scammery.”

Another mused, “I would buy it and actually wear as a keychain if it was selling for like $2 at the thrift store.” In response, one person chimed in, “I’m sure they’ll end up there….eventually – if not in the trash first.”

But even if this particular line does end up selling out, or finding new homes via thrift shops, it’s symptomatic of a larger issue in the fashion world. Micro-trends and fads — like the fleeting clothing lines of little-known celebrities — are not just expensive for shoppers, they tally up a severe cost to the planet as well. 

🗣️ What should the government do about the fast fashion industry?

🔘 Set strict regulations 🚫

🔘 Incentivize sustainable options 💰

🔘 Use both regulations and incentives 🏛️

🔘 Nothing 🙅

🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind

Fast fashion as an industry is extraordinarily pollutive. According to Uniform Market, the 10% of all planet-warming pollution generated by the fashion industry is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The manufacturing of cheap clothing also consumes enough water for 5 million people. 

And all this is done only for most clothes to be tossed after just a handful of uses, with only 1% of clothing ever recycled into new fabrics, per Changing Markets.

“It’s giving AliBaba,” one person criticized Marks’ line.

These concerns are why more people are starting to participate in “Buy Less” or “Buy Nothing” movements. With these mindsets, people buy only necessities new and find all other items secondhand within their own community — which has the added bonus, not only of being carbon neutral, but of costing very little.

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