After a Fall/Winter 2022 collection set in an artificial snowstorm, it was in a setting that was no less apocalyptic that Demna unveiled his Spring/Summer 2023 collection for Balenciaga.
It was in the heart of a field of mud, riddled with shell holes and invaded by mineral odors of decomposition, installed in Villepinte, in the suburbs of Paris, expressing the violence of the current climate, that the silhouettes followed one another. Kanye West himself was the first to walk this battlefield, kicking off the collection in a monochrome black outfit, composed of leather pants, a pair of sneakers, a hoodie, a multi-pocket jacket and a luxury mouthguard shielding his teeth. Then came several dozen looks walking down the wet runway where dirt and mud splattered their bare ankles and soaked their hems, sporting oversized aviator jackets, windbreakers and destroy jeans, glittery or latex tops displaying a 404 error code, torn skirts, tight tee-shirts, knotted dresses in jersey or mermaids embroidered with crystals, funny scarves in fake fur scoubidou, and holding tight, under their parkas or XXL jackets, baby carriers (with very realistic fake babies) attached to the chest in Balenciaga harnesses.
In the show notes, Demna explained that he “decided to no longer explain my collections and verbalize my designs, but to express a state of mind… The set of this show is a metaphor for digging for the truth and being down to earth. Let us let everyone be anyone and make love, not war”.
©Balenciaga
