Absent Demna for a direct quote, he’s issued a pre-fall lookbook with another kind of directness about it. According to press notes, it was shot on his phone. Captured during styling sessions at Balenciaga’s showroom on the Rue de Sèvres in Paris, this is the full run of Demna-isms we see before us: his exaggerated silhouettes reconstituted from generic garments, in-jokes in the shape of ‘fan t-shirts’ printed with the faces of house ambassadors on the front and signed on the back, plus collabs of the season. Featuring Dr. Scholl and Lamborghini.
Fashion eyes will whizz to the weirdness first. That would be men’s jersey underpants sliced open to be worn as micro-skirts—a hilarious outrage you can bet on catching fire all over the place. Not so sure about the new ‘Zero’ shoes—footwear reduced to clip-on heels and a kind of stall wrapping the big toe. These you may find so creepy, orthopedic, and disgusting you can’t shoo them out of your mind. But yet again, that’s just another aspect of the Demna we know of old: made you look, made you talk.
But also: he’ll make you smile. This is likely the instant you see what he’s done with the classic built-for-comfort Dr. Scholl’s slide by turning it into a spike-heeled fashion mule. It stretches credulity that the Balenciaga hybrid can possibly remain a comfort-shoe in the wearing—but who cares? It looks so ineffably cool when worn with a great big gray hip-length bomber and a flared knee-length skirt.
In this extensive lineup of product, there are moments which have the flourish of genius-grubby elegance that first distinguished Demna as a talent. In that category are the swathed mega-scarves which appear to be made from cut-up coats, trenches, and the like. These looks—and the Cristobal-ish echo behind them—should please hard-core fashion followers. And in the meanwhile, Balenciaga has an entirely separate Formula 1 fan base on the go. The collab features the 2025 Lamborghini Temerario, the company’s ‘second hybrid super sports car’ on a t-shirt. Lamborghini Shield logo patches are dotted on sleeves and bags. It’s just a foretaste of a full collection that will be rolled out (as it were) in the spring.
