Gucci £1,300 umbrella ridiculed in China for not being waterproof

theguardian.com:

An umbrella created as part of a collaboration between Gucci and Adidas has met with a storm of criticism in China, where social media users have derided its inability to keep its owner dry.

Chinese consumers are calling out the fact that the item, priced at 11,000 yuan (£1,311) and not yet available, does not perform the basic function a user might expect.

Called a “sun umbrella” on Gucci’s website, the piece from the upcoming Adidas x Gucci collection comes with a warning that it is “not waterproof and is meant for sun protection or decorative use”.

The accessory has been mocked on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, with the BBC reporting that one user called it “a very big but useless fashion statement”, while another wrote: “As long as I’m poor, they won’t be able to trick me into paying for this.”

Twitter has seen its share of scorn too. “Imagine buying a $1,600 umbrella as a status symbol, discovering it doesn’t stop rain, then finding out it was never intended to work in the first place,” tweeted one user.

In comments to Beijing magazine Caijing, Gucci said the item was “not recommended for use as an everyday umbrella” and it has “good collector’s value and is suitable for use as a daily accessory”.

There clearly remains a market for an item that is less about practicality and more about making a fashion statement. On Gucci’s UK website, there is a waiting list for the umbrella, where it is priced at a slightly cheaper £870.

Gucci continues to be a superstar of the high-end fashion industry. This week, the brand staged a fashion show in a 13th-century castle in Puglia, southern Italy, flying in editors and influencers from all over the world for an event designed to align the showcase of its collection with the