From scandal to sobriety: Demna’s tame Balenciaga collection at Paris Fashion Week
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Balenciaga’s clean slate: The luxury house attempts to move on from controversy with a collection devoid of logos and focused on the essence of clothing
Balenciaga comes out of hiding at Paris Fashion Week
Late November 2022, Balenciaga came out with a holiday campaign. The brand, since the start of Demna’s reign, has raised a lot of eyebrows. What usually came from a playful yet unconventional use of materials and silhouettes, this time came from claims of child endangerment.
Many apology statements, a wiped-out Instagram, and months of silence later, the F/W collection represents Balenciaga’s hope. The hope that all is forgiven and forgotten, and that fans and critics of the brand are ready to start on a clean slate. This drove the solemn collection, and Demna employed his view of a foolproof strategy of mixing Cristóbal Balenciaga’s heritage with his own.
Presented on the Sunday of Paris Fashion Week, the show took place in a lowkey room in the Carrousel du Louvre. The location mirrored the tame approach of the collection and was a full 180 from Balenciaga’s previous set designs. Viral moments like the mud room and the snowscape were nowhere to be found, and a room covered in white toile fabric awaited guests instead. This was meant as another connection to the roots of craftsmanship, the fabric being the one that every garment starts from when the first samples are cut.
Focus on the essence of making clothes
When the invitation arrived for the show, it was once again a conversation piece. It included a pattern for a jacket, which can be used to create a real custom piece. Recalling the spirit of creating clothes started here. As Demna took refuge from the backlash, he rediscovered the core of his passion.
The designer took a rack of pants he found at the Balenciaga offices home with him. Taking them apart and putting them back together while giving them a new life set everything off. Reconstructed pieces were born from what were once old samples and prototypes, which then became the opening pieces for the F/W collection. Although he had started creating the collection before the scandal hit, Demna stated that the situation further confirmed his direction.
The fact that the initial items were pants was also not a coincidence. In his personal message about the show, Demna reminisced about his childhood, and where his love for fashion design originated. Going to his local tailor at 6, picking out fabrics and doing fittings was the very beginning of it all. He noted how this main principle of simply creating clothes has been overshadowed by the show and entertainment value of fashion. Rediscovering his calling and sticking to this fundamental idea, he designed a collection as an ode to the artistic quality of creation.
Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week
Deconstructing and reconstructing pieces
Where did this focus on reconstructing the soul of clothing take the collection? The lineup started with suits, and they kept on coming. Their oversized and dark presence wasn’t a surprise, as they are both staples of Demna’s Balenciaga. The markings of their previous life were peeking through the hems of the blazers as belt loops and pants pockets. Styled with them were the pants, which, for the ultimate satirical touch, were doubled – creating looks made from three renditions of a pair of pants.
The rest of the collection featured more core elements of what Demna is known for at the luxury house. Silhouettes best described as uncomfortable were repeated through jackets and hoodies. Accentuated shoulder pads tied together flowing patterned dresses, shimmering night gowns and form-fitting sportswear. Shoes and sunglasses also had their moments to shine and brought in that futuristic touch.
Beside all the visual cues reminding the audience of Demna’s identity as a designer, there was one thing missing – logos. Demna had introduced not only Balenciaga, but street culture as a whole, to logos front and center. This move was yet another attempt at making the show solely about the clothes themselves. But in view of everything that has been happening, it felt like a way to quiet down. The lack of logos was a clear sign of the fact that the brand is not ready to come out from hiding just yet.
The road that led to Balenciaga’s downfall
The two campaigns that led to the outrage tied not only Demna’s name, but also the heritage of the house to a narrative of child abuse. The first campaign was the gifting capsule, which came as a series of imagery shared primarily on the brand’s Instagram page. These featured children holding bags in the shape of stuffed toys wearing BDSM-inspired outfits. Teddies were clearly seen with mesh leggings, chokers and the like. Inserting children in a context with such connotations was certainly not received well.
Plugs were pulled on the campaign, but the backlash continued. This time, it came through the analysis of the props in the Spring 2023 campaign images. The campaign featured names like Nicole Kidman and Bella Hadid, and took place in an office setting. A page from a Supreme Court ruling, which confirms the illegal state of child pornography, could be spotted within the prop documents. To top it all off, other photos included shots where a book by Matthew Barney was visible. Paintings featured in the book are known to spotlight toddlers in sinister settings, with overtones of violence.
The brand has issued countless apology statements, and so has Demna and the CEO, Cédric Charbit. As a way to show responsibility, Balenciaga has announced a number of steps. These range from implementing internal and external content validation mechanisms, to donating and partnering with associations. The house declared that it is willing to “learn and contribute” to the cause of protecting children. In the statement issued by Charbit, he expressed his commitment to a “listening tour” to engage with advocacy groups.
What’s next for Balenciaga?
Moving on from this level of controversy is hard, and doesn’t yet seem to be possible. As a brand that’s known for making a big statement on the runway and off, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Balenciaga would want to regain one of its biggest communication tools. The decision to show was backed by Kering and seen as a way to test the social media waters.
Judging the response to the show isn’t hard, despite the brand not leaving any space for conversation by turning Instagram comments off. The fact that the brand and its key figures stayed silent for a long time as the controversy grew is still fresh in people’s minds. No major layoffs took place, which left most feeling like there were no consequences for such huge missteps.
For many, the change that came with the refocusing of the creative direction wasn’t enough. The repetition of silhouettes throughout the 54-look collection led to an exhausted sentiment. The identity portrayed with the collection was said to be the core of Demna as a designer, but it was far from what the brand had stood for for years. Regardless of the aesthetics of the collection, the overwhelming opinion was rightfully overshadowed by the scandal. The reset that Balenciaga hoped for was met with the unwavering conviction that the brand deserves bigger repercussions.
Balenciaga FW 2023 Show at Paris Fashion Week
The Balenciaga FW 2023 Show was presented on the 5th of March in Paris. Following controversies led by the gifting and Spring 2023 campaigns, the show was one of the first times the brand broke its silence. Balenciaga, backed by Kering, returned to the public eye with a tamed collection that hoped to bring the creation of clothes back to its roots.
