Prix fixe fashion! Couture adjusts for inflation as high-end designers create dresses made of balloons, hay and ripped denim

Chiffon? In this economy?This week’s Paris Haute Couture shows swapped the usual piles of handmade lace and crystal-coated leather for materials often on shelves at the Dollar Store — or even better yet, Home Depot, like latex balloons, crumpled chicken wire, ripped denim, and clumps of very photogenic hay.The bargain-bin brilliance comes as U.S.inflation rates hit 4.2 percent, resulting in designer dresses that were once $500 to $2,000 now in the $10,000 range.

When even the ultra-rich are hit with sticker shock, fashion has some work to do to survive disgruntled shoppers and skeptical critics.Apparently, that work begins at the Dollar Store.The high-low moves took off at Robert Wun, a London-based couturier who augmented his sculpted black and white gowns with giant bunches of customized latex balloons, the same kind found at Balloon Saloon in Tribeca for $4 a pop.Wun told A-list showgoers like Cardi B that the balloons were an answer to the question, “What is the opposite of all the weight and seriousness we carry?” Can that universe expand any further?” and compared the look to “childhood that we carry deep within….

beautiful and joyous, yet fragile and not meant to last.”Other designers skipped Party City for inspiration and went straight to Home Depot.At Christian Dior, creative director Jonathan Anderson — a.k.a.the man behind Taylor Swift’s still-secret wedding gown — topped his frothy gowns and tailored suits with necklaces inspired by New York artist Lynda Beglis and made from silver hex wire, the kind you put around your tomato plants to keep out the squirrels, that retails for $12.99 at the local hardware store.Straw got turned into fashion gold at Chanel with fairytale-inspired accents like golden goose clutches and shoes with beanstalk-shaped heels.

Supermodel Natasha Poly sported a hat covered in loose strands of hay (currently $8 for a small bale at the Union Square Greenmarket) along with matching shoes and a tweed button-up...