Balenciaga 2010 Resort Collection vs. East West Musical Instruments Co.

the east west musical instruments "parrot" jacket is one of our favorite leather jackets of all time. easily one of the most iconic (and popular) pieces that east west produced.

recently nicolas ghesquière showed off balenciaga's 2010 resort collection to acclaim. one of the most talked about jackets looked a bit familiar to educated bloggers:

addicted to YSL

fashion-incubator

jezebel

its not an exact reproduction, but its pretty close. ghesquière streamlined the jacket, severing the heads of the parrot and cutting back on a bit of the detail. other than that its an east west knock off. the east west version came in several different color patterns. ghesquière's is pretty true to the standard "parrot" by east west. the cut also looks pretty similar to the original, fitting high and tight.

our thoughts? imitation is often called the sincerest form of flattery... but who wants to wear a knock off? personally we'd prefer a vintage original. would you rather have an anna sui dress or a slightly different interpretation by forever 21?

of course, balenciaga is no forever 21. they are a high end fashion house and the materials used will most likely be top grade leather and hardware. so rather than dwell on the negative that east west was essentially knocked off (not even close to the first time this has happened), we'd rather focus on the positive.

all the coverage this topic is receiving only helps to bring east west musical instruments co to a wider audience. the company is well known to a select few, mainly vintage collectors, stylists and designers. this is just another step towards exposing east west to more people who will appreciate the huge impact east west has had in influencing modern designers.

original east west parrot jackets are extremely rare and will remain an exclusive piece owned by few. these jackets rarely come onto the market.

one recently sold at christies of london for $4500.

another one sold on our site: www.goodbyeheart.com

sad to have missed out on these?

don't despair. we still have one. and its one of the rarest color combinations. it's the one below, click here to see it on our website.


speaking of photos... the photo of the balenciaga jacket was borrowed from wwd.com. the other photos of the east west parrot jacket are owned by goodbyeheart.com. these photos are not to be used or reproduced without our permission. want permission? just ask. we're nice.