14 DAY TRIAL // Actress, occasional singer and self-fashioned lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow is now selling overpriced acrylic clutches, branded with the names of her favorite rappers. Because she’s cool like that.
Two new items to have recently popped up on Paltrow’s often-criticized Goop website are drawing the wrong kind of attention online because both she and the designer, Eddie Parker, seem to have forgotten that two of the rappers referenced on them were actually rivals: Biggie and Tupac.
Overpriced clutches that are in bad taste
According to the description on the Goop website, Paltrow asked Eddie Parker to design “a duo of hip-hop-themed clutches, just for us.” Both are made of acrylic and contain a mirror inside, so they don’t stand out particularly in terms of design or material.
What they do stand out for is their high price tag and the names on each side of the clutch. They retail for approximately $1,700 (€1,550), and are branded Hov / Shady and Biggie / Pac.
Gwyneth Paltrow claims to be a good friend of Jay Z and Beyonce, so no wonder she’d choose one of his names for her clutch. As to why he’s associated with Shady (Eminem, for “mainstream” audiences), it’s a mystery: they’re not frequent collaborators and they’re not close friends.
However, it’s the other clutch that confuses even more: Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were rivals and said rivalry may have even played a part in their death by shooting, one year apart.
What is Paltrow thinking?
Dazed is wondering out loud why Paltrow thought the association of Biggie and Pac would make for a great idea for an overpriced clutch, which isn’t particularly pretty or fashionable either.
Jezebel also finds something objectionable in the use of color for the names, blue and red.
“Do you think the color choice is an ignorant reference to the Bloods and Crips that misconstrues, misrepresents and oversimplifies the East Coast / West Coast rivalry between Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, or do you think it was a purely aesthetic (and ugly) creative decision?” the publication asks.
Whoever advised Paltrow on this deserves to be let go, voices in the blogosphere are saying. If she did it on her own, she needs to reconsider her creative direction for Goop and, for once and for all, just stop trying to appear so hip at whatever cost.
