Mad Fad | free straitjacket story

PARIS — Victor Rave has always been ahead of the fashion curve. Recently, however, he unveiled a new line that is ahead of the fashion ‘straight’

“It’s the Straitjacket,” the 30-year-old Rave said proudly. “And it is my most important creation yet!”

Rave - who last year introduced the disastrous sponge bathing suits — based his design on toe standard restraining coat used for severely disturbed individuals. "It is liberating in its restrictiveness." Rare maintained.

Other designers were quick to fault him in every way possible.

“He is making it seem hip to be out-of-control.” said German designer Franz Goethe. “That is a moral outrage.”

“It is another creative disaster,” said Beverly Hills couturier Delfina. “All he did was take a straitjacket and sell it in different colors.”

Parents have also expressed concern about the popular item. “Our daughter insists on going to school in that thing,” said Dianne Seine.

“We’ve received complaints that she runs up and down the halls screaming.”

“Parents should kiss my feet!” Have sneered. “My straitjacket encourages personal expression. More than that, it is a celebration of the era in which we live - mad, yet filled with hands-free technology.

“As for my other critics, when van Gogh painted a landscape he borrowed from reality and reinterpreted it,” Rave shot back. “I have done no less.”

So far the Straitjacket has been selling “like crazy,” according to one retailer. Rave is so encouraged that he plans to offer accessories. “Electro-shock iPods will keep the brain humming” he said, “and for controlling parents like the Seines, I'll be selling electronic ankle-bracelets so they’ll know where their son or daughter is at all times.”