Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga is in Los Angeles to present the luxury house’s Fall 2024 collection and, typically, they’re letting everyone know about it.
Balenciaga shared images of a Demna-fied Hollywood sign and a stamped-on invitational cup ahead of its arrival in California to promote its hotly-anticipated show, which saw the brand take over a street in Hancock Park on December 2.
A Balenciaga energy bar was also dispatched to invitees in the days leading up to the show and bore the specifics of the presentation and a brief rundown of key Balenciaga moments since its inception in 1917.
So, what happened at Demna's Fall 2024 Balenciaga show? Well, there was Cardi B, new ambassador Nicole Kidman, some new extra extra big sneakers, a few nice couture-y pieces, and an Erewhon and Jacob & Co. collaboration. That's not even all of it, by the way.
2023’s Balenciaga looks a hell of a lot different to 2022’s Balenciaga. Since the child ad scandal that plagued the famed fashion house late last year (yup, it’s been 12 months already), Demna has served a more toned-down version of a brand that before had been renowned for its often divisive collections.
Balenciaga’s big return during Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2023 was something of nothing (a somber homecoming that felt like Demna tip-toeing the brand back into the fold), although its Spring 2024 show a few months later did show glimpses of the Balenciaga of old, an event that also featured the viral towel skirt. Cole Sprouse wore internet-dividing piece to the brand's Fall 2024 show, by the way.
Balenciaga Summer 2024 was, though, a tad more interesting and certainly more fun. Sure, there were no noodle scarfs, leather trash bags, or pre-dirtied shoes this time around — so it certainly wasn’t Balenciaga as we knew it previously — but a heavily draped red velvet runway and the clothes on show provided a more interesting contrasting at least.
The current trend of Demna gradually reviving Balenciaga made the LA show kind of a treat. The question on my mind is: will we ever see the old Balenciaga fully come back? Or will it be more drip-fed returns of the house’s former self from here on out?
If there’s anything we know of Demna’s Balenciaga, it’s to expect the unexpected. That being the case, it really could go either way with the brand's future collections.
