It's clear to see that for Balmain's designer Christophe Decarnin, inspiration came from both native America and the 70s. His Spring 2008 designs were festooned with fringes or tie-dyed, or both, for a casual, hippie vibe.
 
Wouldn't it be cheaper to go to the local hippie clothing emporium for this sort of thing?  Or to tie-dye some oversized t-shirts and then cut the edges into fringe? 

Formal wear for a Grateful Dead concert at Lincoln Center, perhaps.