Kate Bosworth (pictured) and Ke$ha cruise the Coachella Music Festival in copies of the shirt. (WireImage)
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It’s holed glory.
In a fashion statement only the French would make, a Parisian designer is selling a $1,395 tank top made to look like a tattered American flag marred by cigarette-burn holes and held together by safety pins. And it’s turning into one of spring’s hottest sellers.
The top, part of Balmain’s spring collection, sold out in minutes on luxury-fashion Web site Net-a-Porter.
Forever 21 and Topshop designed knockoffs of the protest-chic tank, which model Gisele Bundchen wore in a Chinese Vogue spread. But neither tear up Old Glory as much as Balmain’s original, designed by Christophe DeCarnin, who recently left the fashion house after reportedly checking into a mental hospital for exhaustion and depression.
At the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, Calif., Ke$ha went to a pool party sporting a crasser interpretation that, like Balmain’s, show the stars on the wrong side.
“I exercise freedom of speech in every facet of my career,” the singer said in an interview. “For me, that’s one of the main things the American flag stands for.”
Actress Kate Bosworth was spotted wearing a toned-down version of the shirt at Coachella. At $45, the Topshop shirt is also sold out.
The federal Flag Code, a congressional statute that offers guidelines for flag use, says the banner should “never be used as wearing apparel” or “fastened, displayed, used or stored in such a manner to permit it to be easily torn, soiled or damaged in any way.”
“This top is wrong on so many levels,” said author and style expert Jene Luciani. “A lot of people are disillusioned with the state of our country today, and wearing this definitely makes a statement.”
One leading veteran was disgusted.
“I think it is a disgrace for a Frenchman or anyone else to desecrate the American flag,” said retired Army soldier George Alatzas, who runs a Web site called It’s All About the Flag. “Our flag has witnessed many sacrifices. It is the glue that holds our patriotism together. Shame on those who defile it in any way.”