You Want More? Balenciaga Will Give You More
“My early memories of fashion start with me drawing looks on cardboard, cutting them out, and making ‘fashion shows’ on my grandma’s kitchen table,” wrote Demna in a handwritten note on yellow lined paper that was blasted out pre-show. Like so many designers, Balenciaga’s artistic director is nostalgic for those times, and he added that “35 years later, this show reconnects me to the beginning of my vision. It’s a tribute to fashion that has a point of view.”
To the strains of a manic remix of Britney Spears’s “Gimme More,” he sent models out on the raised runway, first in retro lingerie incongruously paired with top-handle purses. The looks progressed gradually to include more coverage: sheer beaded pieces over lingerie, bras worn with pantaboots, and sweaters or coats slung over garters. Then the lineup became gradually more prim: black turtleneck dresses and white, along with cream and red frocks that trailed ribbons.
Denim and hoodies are Demna standbys, and he experimented with both, turning jeans into gaiters and showing oversized sweatshirts with aggressively simplified slogans: “Fashion Designer” or “Human Being.” Also on deck were some soon-to-be-hyped accessories: futuristic wraparound mask sunglasses and foam basketball sneakers.
As the show continued, clothes piled on, layer after layer in a slow progression, complete with caps pulled down low, incognito-celebrity style. (Surely some of the front row denizens, including Katy Perry, Lindsay Lohan, and Ashley Graham, could relate.) Combined with the soundtrack, it felt like a commentary on overconsumption. Further driving home the point: models carried branded tags, almost as though they were products. Demna seemed to be showing that just as he could strip things down to their most essential, he could build them right up again.
Balenciaga Summer 2025
Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s Fashion Features Director and the author of the book Dress Code, which was selected as one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of the Year. Her writing has previously appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, W, New York magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Condé Nast Traveler.
