Brand: Balenciaga
Season: Pride Month 2021
Key Pieces: We want everything on offer, but the thong – or jockstrap, if you will – with a rainbow waistband and the brand's name emblazoned on the front.... it speaks for itself.
Release Date: June
Buy: Balenciaga
Editor's Notes: After last year's parade cancellations, the anticipation for Pride festivities is at a new high. And we just got another thing to look forward to: Balenciaga's Pride 2021 capsule, dropping in June.
The Pride-themed capsule collection spans sports bras, baseball caps, boxers, t-shirts, and hoodies with "GAY" printed across them in varsity letters. However, the divisive highlight of the collection is the thong or jockstrap that's about Pride as it gets with its rainbow-colored trimming.
Part of the capsule first debuted last month as part of Balenciaga's Pre-Fall 2021 collection, which saw models standing in front of various famous travel landmarks. Now the capsule will launch in full in Pride Month with the aim of promoting LGBTQIA+ visibility and acceptance. 15% of the sales price from the Pride capsule will be donated to The Trevor Project and its mission to end suicide for LGBTQ youth.
"I'm gay. I grew up in a society where I couldn't have worn that, and there are places in the world that you cannot today," Balenciaga's creative director Demna Gvasalia told Vogue about the Pride gear. "It's important to push through against homophobia. I'm not someone who goes out in the street and shouts. But this is the political fashion activism I can do."
