Miu Miu Should Use Wisdom Kaye’s $18,000 to Fix Their Quality Control Issues
Wisdom Kaye, the Nigerian-American model dubbed the best-dressed guy on TikTok by Vogue, recently ran into trouble with luxury fashion brand Miu Miu.
Miu Miu was founded by Miuccia Prada in 1992 as a sister brand to Prada. Miu Miu is known as Prada’s playful little sister, offering youthful and feminine styles for consumers who don’t want to spend Prada money.
Kaye, a long-time fan of the brand, experienced a $18,000 hiccup (to say the least) after purchasing a vest and sweater from the brick-and-mortar store.
The offending items in question are the Corduroy-Collar Denim Vest, which retails for $3,300 on Farfetch, and the Cotton Piping Zip-Up Cardigan, which costs $2,550.
The influencer voiced his complaints to his 13.9 million TikTok followers on September 11th, 2025. In the video, Kaye expressed his frustrations by showing the disappointing quality of the items. He showed the camera that the zipper on the Zip-Up Cardigan had snapped off, and that the first button on the Denim Vest fell off soon after he brought his purchases home.
Following the viral status of the first video, which collected 6 million views in a week, Miu Miu reached out to Kaye for damage control. They offered to send him replacements for the damaged items. Shortly after, the model took down his original video and then reposted it after the replacements were also deemed defective.
The follow-up video, posted on September 15th, features the 24-year-old unboxing the new clothes. “If it does happen to break again, I have to have this recorded,” he remarked.
The Zip-Up Cardigan passed inspection, solving the broken zipper fiasco. It was the Denim Vest that presented the main issue. A button fell off once again, much to Kaye’s surprise, only the third button instead of the first.
Commenters and creators weigh in on the Kaye/Miu Miu situation
The second video has amassed 10.3 million views and 11.6k comments from shocked viewers.
“WHY wouldn’t they test them before sending 😭”
“Not it breaking a second time😭😭😭☠”
“This is proof that luxury is a scam. You’re not buying for the quality. 😭”
Other TikTokers also weighed in on the situation and the quality control issues plaguing Miu Miu.
Stellajoy_reworked asserted that high fashion brands don’t care about their quality or customers by showing her audience how easy it is to install shank-style buttons. She completed the process in less than a minute and a half, stating that Miu Miu “Could afford a minute and a half to install a button correctly.”
Itsjustjelani showed his support for Kaye by celebrating his honesty. He pointed out that brands shouldn’t charge thousands of dollars for defective items. He also encouraged prominent creators to call out luxury brands when they fail, declaring that it’s wrong for brands to raise prices for lower-quality products.
Withjlc doubled down on the idea that luxury brands don’t care about their patrons. He had Kaye’s back by reminding viewers that many influencers stay quiet about quality control issues to maintain their relationship with a brand. “A lot of the people online, they’re more concerned with the money that they can make from advertisements, partnerships, whatever else, than having true, honest transparency with you.”
What can consumers take away from this incident?
Quality control issues among luxury brands are nothing new. Over the last few years, prices have skyrocketed, but quality has decreased. In my article, “Fine Jewelry vs. Luxury Bags: Why is Jewelry Winning Consumers’ Hearts?” I discuss the various issues in the luxury bag sector, but much of what I said applies to clothing. Some high-end fashion brands forgo luxurious materials or exploit labor to increase profit margins. Selling trendy pieces is more important than ensuring fair labor practices, supplementing conditions where overworked employees make simple mistakes.
Earlier this year, Reuters published an article called “LVMH finds making Louis Vuitton bags messy in Texas.” Several workers at Louis Vuitton's Texas factory described a high-pressure environment when asked about their workplace, according to authors Tassilo Hummel and Waylon Cunningham. Four employees told Reuters that a supervisor repeatedly urged them to overlook flaws in the products to boost output.
Despite being alleged, these reports are symptoms of a bigger problem within the industry. The quality of some luxury items is declining, and consumers are noticing. That’s why there are documented cases of the paint on Goyard bags melting, Louis Vuitton monograms peeling, and Chanel straps breaking. Kaye’s unfortunate experience is just one recorded experience among a sea of disappointed customers.
As fashion lovers, we should never let brands, luxury or otherwise, get away with robbing their customers. We need to document our negative experiences and hold these companies accountable because our money matters.
Always remember, it’s not okay to trade gold for shit!