As we are seeing in the latest campaigns of Balenciaga, the company is trying to use celebrities as the main source for inspiration and engage with their audience. Demna Gvasalia is refusing the earlier past of him directing the social medias of the brand and supporting small artist and random fans. They are still supporting it but with a PR perspective, sending gifted products to the creative minds that they are interested or find attractive. In this occasion, photos were taken by Nadia Lee Cohen and it feels old, from another era for today. Still and moving images show the products of the season while using different celebrities to promote it and get online buzz. The main pieces, apart from bags, that are being mark as principal to buy are shoes and underwear (never seen in the brand before).
The garments promoted come from the Pre-Fall 2022 collection that Demna presented in back in December. The designer wanted to bring back the 90s and apart himself from the 2000s obsession that is happening in the industry. He is inspired by a time were the internet did not exist so we have few clues of what really happen, our mind are distorted trying to put a look together from that time for the lack of digital information from it. To resolve this problem he contacted Harmony Korine, a great film director of the 90s, to record the show, in VHS cameras even, because he is a true representation of the epoque.
Mostly black pieces are presented with a lot of attitude that expand the universe of the lost Balenciaga time. It feels unrehearsed and comfortable to see, it takes you back to that time perfectly. The need to bring things back from the past is what keep the creative director of the brand rolling, keeping a stable identity spicing it up with innovation. New context is given to an iconic way of dressing and one that the want to present an analogic world to this complete digital distopy we are might live in a near future.
Alvaro Ramos
