Hot in the Streets: The Best Parody Designer Items From This Year

Street culture has always had a lasting relationship with aspirational brands. Whether it's Chanel, Polo, or Louis Vuitton, there have been countless parodical takes on fashion houses—not done out of any malicious intent, but rather as a way for people to re-interpret these high-fashion brands in a self-aware context. These days, it seems there's a critical mass of these sorts of items, and they're not always done in a smart, funny, or thought-provoking manner.

The line between clever homage and straight-up copyright infringement lies in how the brand in question is being flipped, sampled, or made fun of. Is there a marriage of a hip-hop reference as well? Is what's being offered giving a different point-of-view or relevancy to what's being parodied? We took a look at some of the better items out there that are subtle in their interpretation, or funny in their execution. Here are The Best Fashion Parody Items Right Now.

RELATED: The 50 Greatest Pop Culture References In Streetwear

Supreme Atelier Hoodie

Supreme regularly finds inspiration from high-fashion brands. This season, they took the Hermès logo and flipped it onto a hoodie. There's also going to be a hat version dropping soon.

Conflict of Interest "Bodega Vendetta" T-shirt

Debuting last month, Conflict of Interest specializes in aping high-fashion brands and re-interepeting them into cheeky T-shirts. We especially like this dig at Bottega Veneta. It implements the brand's trademark intrecciata leather weave into the graphic, which shows that the people behind COI really know what sets Bottega Veneta apart.

Michael Agwunobi "That Shirt Cray" T-shirt

It's a CDG tee mixed with a Watch The Throne reference. What's not to love?

40 Oz NY Balmain-Inspired Snapback

Released in multiple colors that each sold out really quickly, we think this colorway, combining Balmain's logo typeface with classic Yankees colors, really knocked this parody out of the park.

Reason Dion T-shirt

We laughed out loud when we first spotted Reason's send-up of Céline. One in a series of three designer parody tees, it seems the brand hasn't lost its acerbic wit when it comes to thoughtful logo flips. Remember the dope Ramones/Diplomats mash-up?

Acapulco Gold Another PIece of Crap T-shirt

Obviously firing shots at the French fashion brand, Acapulco Gold definitely didn't hold back their feelings about Jean Touitou's company when they dropped this tee earlier this year.

Undercoverism Printed Wallets

Jun Takahashi takes the Goyard print to a more profane level with this leather re-interpretation, adding a dose of wit to small leather goods like wallets and portfolios in a variety of colorways.

Les Plus Dores "Dream Team" T-shirts

Combining designer birth years with their names on a jersey-inspired T-shirt may not seem like a solid recipe for an instant hit, but the folks behind Les Plus Dorés seem to have trouble preventing these limited-edition tees from practically flying off the shelves as soon as they drop. Their most recent version paid homage to Comme des Garcons designer Rei Kawakubo.

Palace Skateboards is currently one of those hot underground brands that seems to instantly sell out of everything almost as soon as it becomes available. While they've also parodied Chanel's famous linking S's, this Versace flip is worth noting because it also perfectly captures the tricolor Italian flag—and also because Rihanna was spotted wearing it at Tokyo's Narita International Airport.

MALA New York Pronunciation Series "Maison" T-shirt

MALA New York's "Pronunciation Series" takes brands like Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel and screenprints phonetic spellings on T-shirts. This Margiela one will definitely have people asking you "What's that T-shirt?" when you rock it. MALA went the extra mile and added a circled number 19, a reference to the label's minimalist tags, where circled numbers represent the numerous collections.

SSUR Comme des Fuckdown Beanie

Popularized by the A$AP Mob, this design flip has actually been around for a while. It's simple, to the point, and hilarious. Sure, it's available on everything from tank tops to sweatshirts now, but the beanie is still dope, especially now that it's also available in a bright blaze orange color.