Balenciaga Winter 2023 Campaign
The new campaign leverages a sense of rebirth for the autumn. By THE FALL
Balenciaga is going through something of a rebuild at the moment. Recent controversies are now firmly in the rear-view mirror as creative director Demna channels a sense of rebirth for the new Balenciaga winter 2023 campaign and beyond. To illustrate the evolving narrative, the designer enlists the help of acclaimed Brooklyn-born photographer and filmmaker Tyler Micthell to create a story shot within the famed 10-12 avenue George V address.
Currently under reconstruction and refurbishment, the location was the original Paris headquarters for Past Master Cristóbal Balenciaga’s couture House from 1932-68. Demna returned to these salons for his first couture collection in 2021, and now the historic building is in the process of being revived as both the old and new home for the Spanish fashion legend.
To buy into this embryonic dynamic, Mitchell’s character studies sets the cast in amongst the chaos of the ongoing construction sites. Taken in its totality, the series of images and film clips become almost a foreshadow of the new era to come. Individually, each one offers a snapshot of the design and creative sensibilities that has worked so successfully for Demna at Balenciaga.
Deconstructed tailoring with oversized proportions sit perfectly within the theme, with denim jeans worn inverted or ‘doubled-up’ reflecting the air of new constructions. In other images opposition becomes the subtext. Spectacular faux-mink coats and bead-embroidered black evening gowns, both cinched at the waist for sublime silhouettes, contrast with the exposed wires hanging from ceilings, paintbrush buckets nestled in corners and bustling workmen going about their business.
Of course, what would Balenciaga be without that touch of real-world glamour? This is also true when it comes to the faces in front of camera. In amongst a cast of Vittoria Ceretti, Minttu Vesala, Arthur del Beato, Nyawurh Chuol, Yura Nakano and Mathieu Simoneau, we have iconic French actress Isabelle Huppert taking the idea of contrasts a step further wearing gorgeous red and yellow floral pleats in impressionist strokes against dull white and greys.
We’re told 10-12 avenue George V will soon be completed. In the meantime, the AW23 campaign gives us our first tantalizing glimpse into the new Balenciaga.
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