Over the past 24 years, Golden Goose has established itself as a major player in the luxury footwear space. Known for its distressed sneakers, which have become a sensation worldwide, the brand is a staple for inner-city yuppies everywhere.

In its early days, you could pick up a pair of Golden Goose sneakers for a fraction of their cost today. Thanks to the booming luxury market, you can now expect to pay upwards of A$600, with some of the more extravagant collaborations — such as those embellished with pony hair and jewels — costing north of A$1,500.

All of Golden Goose’s sneakers are handcrafted and finished in Italy, with the brand cleverly tapping into the consumer’s need for individualism and exclusivity; every mark, scuff and scratch is carefully curated by their craftspeople to ensure your sneakers are almost as unique as your dietary requirements.

The brand doesn’t stop there. With retail outlets all around the world, you can go in-store and have a pair of sneakers customised on the spot to your needs, wants and desires. But where the brand’s genius comes into play is with its accessories. In this case, we’re honing in on their shoelaces…

If you’re unhappy with the basic white laces that come with your shoes, Golden Goose has you covered with a large selection of custom laces. The laces come in all colours, prints and patterns — even leopard print or cam, should that be your thing. If picked wisely, this little touch can take your sneakers from zero to hero in a matter of seconds.

The only catch? The laces are A$100. This might just be the greatest rip-off we’ve seen for a while… and yet, they’ve become a must-have addition to every pair of Golden Goose sneakers I’ve ever purchased. The thought of wearing their sneakers with the standard laces gives me the ick; instead, I’m addicted hook-line-and-sinker when it comes to this not-so-cheap addition.

FYI: We picked up the pink laces featured above last week after buying yet another pair from Mr Porter.

The craziest part of this isn’t the cost of the laces per se, but rather the markup. Hit up Alibaba and you can score a pair of almost identical laces for 0.45c. This is fine if you’re pinching pennies and don’t need Golden Goose stars on your laces… but I do. I’m an addict and I need my fix.

Whilst extortionate prices for very cheap things are nothing new for luxury brands — a A$700 Prada paper clip anyone? — I would argue that Golden Goose laces improve the product and ensure you’re never wearing the same shoes as anyone else, ever.

And this is the point we want to hammer home: we’re not throwing shade at Golden Goose; ultimately, it’s up to the customer to decide if they’re happy to drop A$100 on a pair of laces. Rather, this is actually the kind of genius marketing and hard-hitting brand recognition that can take startups like Golden Goose from small-scale operations to global powerhouses.

With the brand eyeing an IPO sometime in the near future, it’s safe to assume with a little 22,122% markup on products and sneaker tragics like myself more than happy to hoover them up, they’ll be riding off into the sunset while their very happy shareholders laugh all the way to the bank. Well played, GG, well played.