Balenciaga, once the hottest fashion brand in the world, was a four-letter word by December 2022. Wracked by scandal, Balenciaga sales dipped, stores were vandalized, and it was mightily toppled from its throne atop the fashion industry.
Now, not even a half-year later, Balenciaga is hitting its reset point with its Fall/Winter 2023 fashion show on March 5. Is the world ready?
Balenciaga certainly is.
In the immediate wake of fallout over its divisive ad campaigns, Balenciaga laid low.
Its Instagram page was wiped aside from an infrequent series of statements issued as a form of insipid damage control — they did nothing to stem the tide of outrage that washed across social media. The fallout was swift and decisive.
Balenciaga-aligned celebrities quickly distanced themselves, TikTok influencers tore up their own Balenciaga clothes, and conspiracy theories flourished.
But Balenciaga is merely a cog within the ceaseless fashion machine. It has products to produce, profit margins to meet; on a financial level alone, Balenciaga couldn’t stay quiet forever.
So, even during its time away from social media, Balenciaga was subtly updating its website and stores with fresh goods.
Finally, in early February, Balenciaga broke silence with its first missive since the campaign controversy: an announcement that it was partnering with the National Children’s Alliance, a final mea culpa unlikely to placate still-seething critics.
Balenciaga then quietly rolled out the 3XL, its latest luxury sneaker.
To commemorate the launch, Balenciaga issued digital collectibles in China — according to reports, Chinese-language fans quickly dubbed Balenciaga’s shoe “sneaker of the year” and promptly sold-out several colorways — and sent out press releases, the first time in months that it had publicly promoted a new product.
On February 23, Balenciaga uploaded a series of images from its Summer 2023 campaign to its Instagram feed (comments are still disabled) and, on March 1, released a free jacket pattern on the Balenciaga website, allowing anyone to create their own Balenciaga jacket if they so desire.
Clearly, Balenciaga is trying to get back into the swing of things leading up to its fashion show on March 5.
The news of Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 2023 show initially broke through third-party Instagram accounts rather than official fashion channels, where the announcement prompted mixed reactions.
There were plenty of naysayers — “Told you, no consequences for Balenciaga,” one person griped. “Tone-deaf to allow Balenciaga to come back so quickly,” another said. — but just as many people excited to witness Balenciaga’s return — “The internet isn’t ready for Balenciaga’s return but I am,” one fan enthused.
It’s an ironic state of affairs for Balenciaga, a brand that once capably rode controversy from infamy to big, big bucks.
But all the furor kicked up by $1,800 “trash bags,”, $9,000 seven-layer coats, and $750 pre-destroyed sneakers can’t compare to the accusations of “child grooming” that’re still dogging Balenciaga months after the scandal broke.
But, like I said before, Balenciaga can’t operate surreptitiously forever, even if that’d be in its best interests: parent company Kering expects results. Ready or not, this forthcoming fashion show is Balenciaga’s way of hitting reset.
Some people are indeed ready.
Celebrity fans have been seen wearing Balenciaga in public with hardly any blowback and it’s not uncommon to see regular folks wearing Speed Trainers or a Balenciaga-branded hoodie while walking around New York, underscoring the brand’s lingering appeal.
What to expect from Balenciaga’s runway return, though?
Creative director Demna hinted that the FW23 collection would be a pared-back affair rooted in the creations of house founder Cristóbal Balenciaga, suggesting a presentation entirely free of the controversial celebrities and headline-worthy statement pieces that informed previous affairs.
Actually, one could justifiably look to Schiaparelli’s debut ready-to-wear show on March 2 as a preview of what Balenciaga may have in store.
In late January, Schiaparelli exploded the internet with imitation animal heads, stirring up criticism from people who viewed the wearables sculptures as glorification of big game hunting.
Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry was entirely taken aback by the drama (which blew over within a week, by the way).
“The amount of hatred and negativity and anger, specifically from people sitting in the cheap seats of Instagram and all that kind of stuff, was a surprise,” Roseberry recently said.
“The intention behind it was not to provoke anger… If you create according to purely what you hope won’t be a scandal, I mean, I just — I can’t do that.”
Therein lies the rub.
Controversy can be caused by so many incidental occurrences that it becomes nearly impossible to predict. And Balenciaga’s inclination towards edgy provocation only keeps it that much closer to tipping over into true offense.
Not to mention, Balenciaga erred much deeper than Schiaparelli, which is why it’s still keeping a low profile while Schiaparelli continues to post on Instagram.
But the sudden arrival of new campaign images on social media hints at Balenciaga’s desire to get back to normal. I mean, it’s still selling sneakers and hoodies as usual, but Balenciaga clearly wants to regain its former glory.
So, instead of eyebrow-raising sweatpants, I expect Balenciaga to get the ball rolling with a fashion show that’s more along the lines of Balenciaga couture, weird, austere shapes only offensive to people who make a habit of deriding out-there runway shows.
It’s an expensive way to dip a toe back in the water but probably the safest move that Balenciaga could possibly make. But just because the public might’ve temporarily forgotten about the Balenciaga scandal, doesn’t mean that it’s forgiven the fashion house. In fact, expect Balenciaga’s attempts to build back better to be met with derision, at least until it again slips the greater public’s mind.
It’s an uphill (and perhaps endless) road towards redemption but, on March 5, Balenciaga’s taking the first step, for better or worse.
