Alright, let me tell you about the time I stumbled upon that whole Balenciaga Fortnite thing. It was pretty strange, honestly.
So, I was just scrolling through my usual news feeds, I think it was on my phone, just killing time. Then this headline pops up – something about Balenciaga and Fortnite teaming up. My first thought was, “Wait, what?” You know, Balenciaga, the super expensive fashion brand? And Fortnite, the game my nephew plays all the time? Seemed like a really odd couple.
Naturally, I got curious. I had to see what this was all about. So, the next time I had a bit of free time, I actually logged into Fortnite. Haven’t played it much myself lately, but I still have it installed. Fired it up, went straight to the item shop.
Checking it out in the game
And there it was. They had these skins, characters dressed in Balenciaga-branded gear. There was this dude in a hoodie, looked kinda like the ones you see selling for crazy money. Another one had some sort of branded jacket. It was… well, it was definitely different seeing that kind of high-fashion look inside a game like Fortnite.
- Saw the different character outfits.
- Noticed the branded backpacks and accessories too.
- Checked the V-Bucks prices for them.
The skins themselves looked alright, technically. The game artists did a good job making them look like the real clothes, I guess. But seeing a character wearing a thousand-dollar hoodie (well, the virtual version of it) while running around shooting laser guns? It just felt a bit weird. Kinda funny, too.
Then I looked at the prices in V-Bucks. Now, I don’t mind spending a little here and there in games if I like something, but these seemed pretty high, even for special event skins. I had to think about it – do I really want to spend my V-bucks on a virtual designer hoodie?
Looking up the real stuff
Out of curiosity, I actually went and searched for the real Balenciaga items featured in the game. Just wanted to see the actual prices. And man, sticker shock is real. The prices for the physical clothes were just astronomical, as you’d expect. Made the V-Bucks price seem cheap in comparison, but still, for a digital item…
In the end, I decided not to buy any of the skins. It was interesting to see, definitely a conversation starter. But I couldn’t really justify the spend for myself. It felt more like a gimmick, a way for Balenciaga to get noticed by a different crowd, you know?
So, my whole “practice” with the Balenciaga Fortnite event was mostly just looking around, being a bit baffled, and ultimately deciding to keep my V-Bucks. It was a memorable little moment, though. Shows how blurry the lines between the real world and virtual worlds are getting. Kinda makes you think.
