10-word show review: A taste of authenticity and AI in Demna’s makeshift world.
Designer: Demna
Location: Les Invalides
The vision: The narrative began with the show invites. Handpicked by creative director Demna, each Balenciaga fall/winter 2024 show attendee received an eBay parcel with a mysterious gift. In it, porcelain figurines of various animals, personally handpicked by Demna himself. Mine, for example, was a light brown, glazed Pekingnese dog. It was already an indication of what was to come at the show at Les Invalides, an otherworldly yet familiar bridging of authenticity and AI–all under glaring screens that seemed to set up an illusive mirage of daylight.
The vibe: In a custom-built location, a stream of “screen” light trickled in. It took a minute to realise that the entire venue–all four walls, the ceiling and the floors–were fashioned out of monitors. “Under a set of screens tracking a narrative timeline from morning to night over natural and electronic landscapes,” Balenciaga describes. “As this progresses, depictions shift from actual to artificial–or somewhere in between the two states. Editing, splicing, content, sharing, scrolling: each element and more plays across the monitors.” Soon enough, to a thumping soundtrack created by French composer BFRND, designs of equal futuristic measure made their way down the runway, self-assured and unapologetic.
Signature silhouettes: One can always count on Demna to be unrelentingly committed to the shapes, sights, and sounds associated with Balenciaga. For this collection, in particular, one of the most striking instances was a nod to Cristobal Balenciaga in the form of dresses with hip-epaulette construction – a technique where shoulder pads are sewn into the hip. Another standout feature was what Balenciaga calls its “one-minute designs”: a smorgasbord of clothing items patched together to create imaginative and unique pieces. Examples included three hoodies fashioned into a dress, panelled pieces draped into an elongated silk cape, and separately, upcycled backpacks that found new life as conceptual coordinates. At this Balenciaga show, there were simultaneously no rules, as evidenced by the finale look of a lingerie-constructed gown making its way down the runway, yet all the codes needed to recognise just how quintessentially Balenciaga and of-the-time this collection is.