The Unbelievable Scratch-And-Sniff T-Shirt That Costs $590
The high-end fashion world has done it again — left us all to scratch our heads in a state of bewilderment and mild irritation. The house of Lanvin recently launched its set of t-shirts that bear various types of fruits on the front. They also offer the scratch-and-sniff feature that many who sat in late-twentieth century classrooms will remember from their magic markers. Oh, they also cost close to $600 a piece.
According to the New York Times, Jeanne Lanvin opened a hat shop in Paris in 1889 and sold varieties of head coverings for the local elite. Today, a Chinese conglomerate purchased a majority stake in the company that bears the designer's name, and has ushered the company in a different, less practical direction.
The scratch-and-sniff shirts come with various scented fruits plastered on them, and each of these scents have a gender. The outlet reports that cherry is for men, blackberry is for women and strawberry is for both. Plus, the scents are relatively pungent as well and you can expect your peers to experience your shirt's fragrance from a relatively close distance, as explained by the New York Times.
Scratch-and-sniff technology came as a byproduct of an experiment
If you're wondering how we got here, it all started a few decades ago with a chemist named Gale Matson. When working on an experiment to refine the use of carbon paper, he slightly adjusted a common practice to invent the technology. Essentially, it involves tiny plastic-covered balls that contain various scents, and when you apply pressure to them, they break open to give off that fragrance, as the Times explains.
The technology graced the pages of children's books as well as perfume strips in magazines shortly after. According to How Stuff Works, scratch-and-sniff products essentially contain a scent in tons of tiny bottles and when you gently rub them, these bottles open to release the fragrance. An exciting invention for young children, scratch-and-sniff has now made its way up to the halls of Lanvin.
Luckily, the shirt's type of scratch-and-sniff is the long-lasting variety — the scent lasts for up to 50 washes. Just make sure to handle your latest accessory with care, you never know who might want a whiff.