Balenciaga Trudges Through a Blizzard for Its Winter 2022 360° Collection
Demna recited a poem during the show to honor Ukraine’s refugees.
Balenciaga‘s Winter 2022 360° Collection runway show at Paris Fashion Week was not only a powerful and immersive experience, but a love letter to the refugees of Ukraine. Everything from the naturally damaged iPhone 6 invitations to the blizzard-inspired presentation to the poem that Demna, creative director of the fashion house, recited as the models strutted in the new garments was meticulously thought out.
The 500 plus attendees at the show were greeted was oversized tees that were designed in Ukrainian flag colors along with a personalized note from Demna — whose family fled from Georgia in the 1993 civil war. The “runway” was essentially an oversized snowglobe where the models plodded through fake snow that flurried around thanks to the wind turbines inside that were cranked up to the max. It was his method of visually articulating his darker days growing up in Georgia as well as the families in Ukraine who are currently attempting to flee their country in the midst of the war. And as if all of that wasn’t enough to honor the country’s refugees, Demna recited a poem in Ukrainian throughout the show to essentially advise the world to focus on love as fashion is not a priority at the moment.
Bold silhouettes were the standouts of the presentation. Pullover outerwear included reimagined variations of leather jackets, bombers, denim and track jackets as closed-front pieces. Turtlenecks, pants, and jersey hoodies were the staples in the capsule, all of which were either oversized, distressed or shrunken down. Hybrid stretch dresses and bodysuits were reworked with the amalgamation of gloves, shoes, pants, trains or leggings.
A standout element was Balenciaga’s custom packaging tape which either acted as a belt around a wrap coat or baggy pants and seen on show attendee Kim Kardashian in all-over fashion. The double-breasted suiting and trenches come pre-wrinkled and collapsible to make them easy to stow away and the graphic patterns convey the clothes’ XXXL sizes or have messages like “Be Different.” Accessories include that of sustainably made Crush Bags, Swing Bags and Trash Pouches, all of which are made from pairs of Cagole or rodeo boots. In the footwear department, the Spanish-French label flexed its new HD Sneaker, the Knife Wader which bears a flared upper, pointy toe and spiked heel as well as the Glove Boot which is a sleeker silhouette with a rounded toe heel in various heights.
Moreover, Balenciaga debuted EPHEA™ — a mycelium-based material exclusively developed for the brand — which is earth-friendly, comes from the vegetative body of mushrooms and utilized on a floor-length coat.
You can view the collection here above and expect them to start rolling out in the latter half of 2022.
For other news, Balenciaga’s recently announced its SS22 Red Carpet Runway Collection in CGI form.
