Balenciaga's Spring-Summer 2024 Show: A Reflection of Demna's Most Personal Vision

Demna is back to doing Demna. With out of the ordinary ideas for the Balenciaga spring summer 2024 collection: experimentation with innovative (and sustainable) materials, a mix of comfort and luxury, street and evening dresses, stiletto-heeled shoes or derby shoes that become bags, passport holders for globetrotters which are actually portfolios and above all involving its community.

Balenciaga's summer 2024 opens in a theatrical setting made of red drapes, with a soundtrack composed by BFRND (the designer's husband) which features 3 sound elements - orchestra, piano and electronics - and the voice-over of the actress Frenchwoman Isabelle Huppert, global ambassador of the brand, reciting the instructions on how to make a tailor-made jacket from the "La Veste Tailleur Homme" manual, which was also used as an invitation booklet to the fashion show. Look 1 features Ella, the designer's mother and first style inspiration, wearing a recycled car coat, made up of 3 deconstructed and reworked vintage items. The tailoring work is detailed and subtle: a 2D effect to create a flattened and straight strapless shoulder, with oversized shapes, pleats cut with the precision of a couturier. The footwear offers exaggerated proportions, tennis socks on heels and comfort flats for pointy slippers, for a major reveal: each shoe will be available in both women's and men's sizes.

The segment of the collection dedicated to day wear is a game of layering, with fluid and imposing outerwear, such as the long leather trench coat worn by Diane Pernet, designer, journalist, creator of the first international fashion film festival ASVOFF and first blogger in the history of fashion ; or the jackets and large coats with double-breasted buttons worn by "The Cut" critic Cathy Horyn and the legendary teacher and fashion expert Linda Loppa (the one who taught fashion to the legendary Antwerp 6 ) or the bomber jacket worn over a long skirt by Robin Meason the world pr director of Balenciaga. Long skirts, an essential, are A-line and have removable panels that can be swapped and removed for a shorter silhouette. Within the collection, which gives a turning point in terms of circularity of materials, a non-animal and non-synthetic alternative to leather is also presented, a low-impact material called LUNAFORMTM. It is the first time that the material has been applied to fashion, and was designed specifically for Balenciaga, it is a plastic-free fabric and comes from fermented nanocellulose.

Terry bathrobes are also used as overcoats. The necklines of the jackets are widened and dismantled so that they can be worn on the shoulders and dropped on the arms, the motorcycle clothing trend is revived through a biker jacket made with recycled leather. Evening wear closes the show. Enveloping lace for the iconic Amanda Lepore, while circular dresses printed in vinyl alternate with the floral prints of the retro tablecloths, one of which worn for example by the Asian top model Liu Wen, while other outfits from previous collections are reassembled as for example in the final look worn by BFRND: a mix of 7 pre-2000s wedding dresses that have been cut, sewn and revised for an authentic dream of lace and ruffles with a gothic flavour.

Demna still manages to make us dream with a cast of personalities (even Kim Kardashian only for the lookbook and not on the catwalk doesn't bother us), irreverent ideas, haute couture and research into details. The creative director focused on the meaning of his fashion, the impact of his ideas and the desire to entertain and have fun with his family of friends, colleagues and fans of the house. And he succeeded.

>>Scroll down to see the key looks and the video of the show