It wouldn't be a lie if I said that Balenciaga's latest Cruise 25 Collection that took place in Shanghai last night was a collection which went back to the basics.
What do I mean by basics? It’s not any basics, it’s the Balenciaga basics. The pieces that made Balenciaga a pioneering brand back in Fall/Winter16 with Demna’s debut collection.
At Tagwalk, we’ve analysed Balenciaga’s collections since 2016 to demonstrate how the latest Resort 25 pieces go back to the original show. On average, each collection has approximately 67% of black, 63% of oversized looks, 17% of logos.
I would like to pay a special attention to the Resort 25 footwear because one thing I know for sure is that Balenciaga’s footwear tends to inspire luxury and mass market brands a couple of months down the line (remember the big trainer trend and so on).
Does this mean that everyone will now start wearing oversized, big, black leathered platforms? No. But does this mean that we’re moving away from the ballet core trend and that the woman is still ladylike but has a tougher edge to her attitude? Yes.
Some might criticise the show because they feel like it’s too repetitive however Balenciaga which is a Kering owned brand is also doubling on its consistency and strong DNA pillars - Gucci is going through a major change, Bottega Veneta is still evolving so Balenciaga and Saint Laurent are the wolf pack leaders to ensure stability for the company and nothing screams more consistent than a great black jacket or a beige trenchcoat.
If I could say something (in my humble opinion) is that I would personally like to see a change of the Balenciaga faces on the runway show. They are doing such a good job in their latest campaigns (Kate Moss, Nicole Kidman, Amelia Grey etc) that I kind of want to see new models on the runway show to give it new energy.
It's one thing for the clothes to be consistent but I want Demna to show me what the new cool is, what personas he would pick for his shows, what hair and make up he wants to create and so on.
There isn't much to add except for the fact that the Balenciaga silhouette is in a lead of its own, where the shapes created back in 2016 were shapes we hadn't seen before, so were the playful (satirical) logos, the enormous trainers, the mixed and matched patterns, over layering and so on. Nowadays, society is evolving towards a cleaner version of themselves and it would be nice to see what Demna thinks of society in 2024 (he's always so just in his perception that we want his vision of the every day life back in his shows).
