Shoreditch-based fashion site Lyst kidnapped a DHL delivery driver to promote its designer DHL T-shirts
Online fashion store Lyst will do anything to profit from the "ugly" fashion trend.
The store, which is based in Shoreditch, "kidnapped" a delivery driver from German courier service DHL on Friday as it announced a surge of people searching for designer DHL-branded T-shirts on the firm's website.
Help @dhlexpressuk they took my radio n van keys there r all these fashion girls, can u send sum1 from customer care plz help
— Anthony Robinson (@Anthony21717223) April 8, 2016
Hey @dhlexpressuk, we’ve got Tony Robinson, driver #FD07, and we’re keeping him. https://t.co/8HaQ2XBQfT pic.twitter.com/owQiDyZhVl
— LYST (@lyst) April 8, 2016
@lyst The shirts are ready but we can’t deliver until he’s released. Prisoner swap with our Global CEO Ken Allen? pic.twitter.com/72wg8kaujD
— DHL Express UK (@dhlexpressuk) April 8, 2016
The garment, created by German fashion label Vetements, made its debut on the catwalks of Paris fashion week last month, and has since become something of a cult must-have item being sold by a range of stores for anywhere between £185 and £330.
More than 30,000 shoppers have searched for DHL t-shirts on Lyst in the last week, and the firm claims stocks are running low.
A spokesperson for the firm said: "We’ve seen unprecedented demand for the £185 Vetements T-shirts. For every DHL top sold, 280 shoppers are trying to buy it".
As part of the PR stunt, Lyst staff demanded to be given T-shirts worn by DHL's delivery drivers, claiming that it will give the shirts away to customers for free.
On the other hand, the shirt isn't quite so popular with Helge Rieder, the man behind the German courier service's logo.
In an article for the Financial Times, Reider said: The DHL logo on its own isn’t an extraordinary piece of design. But it is just one element of a holistic visual identity that we created for Deutsche Post and its subsidiaries back in the mid-1990s."
"Selling a T-shirt with a DHL logo for £185 is crazy. Buying it for this price is beyond reason. I can’t see any creativity in printing a well-known brand on a T-shirt."