Balenciaga: Politicizing Paris

Attendees of the Winter 2022 Balenciaga runway show were invited by receiving a broken iPhone in the mail, engraved with the event’s details along with a note stating that the phone is a “real artifact from 2022” - a play on words meant to evoke a sense of futurism and anti-corporatist thinking. The show initially got a lot of attention for being insensitively timed as news outlets were being flooded with updates about the Ukrainian invasion. Critics felt as though the realm of fashion media coverage should take a step back to make space for more important headlines. Demna Gvasalia, the director and current head designer of Balenciaga, claimed to have almost canceled the show out of respect for the current crisis at hand, only to release one of the most emotionally and politically charged runway shows of all time. The highly controversial Winter 2022 Balenciaga show attracted a discourse that was unrelated to the clothing being released, therefore transforming the nature of fashion shows by entering the realm of political controversy.

 As a luxury fashion brand with high price marks that make their clothing unattainable to most consumers, Balenciaga seemed to have gained a new sense of self-awareness with this most recent show. Titled “360 Degrees” - ominously referring to rising temperatures due to global warming and using virtual reality terminology in one - attendees were at a loss about what the clothing was going to look like and what direction Demna was going to take artistically with this project. Guests entered a massive glass-covered arena and sat in one of the two rows on its perimeter, which was immediately unusual. Luxury fashion shows thrive on press coverage discussing which celebrities attended the show and what they were wearing. This seating made it impossible to see those in attendance unless they were right next to you: Demna’s careful artistic decision to eliminate the socially elitist aspect of a  typical fashion show, directed everyone’s eyes to the arena in front of them. The set design of this event aimed to make it void of social interaction and mitigate press coverage about which celebrities wore what and who they came with, yet the typical tabloid controversies born from every runway show was replaced with an entirely new type of press coverage: one which attempted to analyze the intent behind these artistic choices. The only extent of tabloid-esque coverage for this particular show was a mention of Kim Kardashian’s and Euphoria actress Alexa Demie’s attendance, while the overwhelming majority of news was fixated on the unconventional and bold nature of the event itself.

Each seat had a folded t-shirt with the Ukrainian flag on it. As everyone got settled, the show commenced with electronic music pounding, while artificial wind and snow began swirling around the arena, creating a realistic sense of an aggressive blizzard. Viewers looked into the arena through the glass in front of them, and as the models began showcasing the clothing and walking through the storm, it became clear that the show wasn’t about the clothes at all. They were almost entirely masked by the pounding snow, comically fighting through gusts of wind in their tall heels. Towards the end of the show, the soundscape grew louder and unbearable. The lights were flickering, the storm intensified, and every model was seen trudging through the snow holding a large trash bag, presumably filled with clothing. 

It became increasingly clear that the Winter 2022 show wasn’t so much a display of articles of clothing as it was a warscape scene, bringing attention to the refugee crisis in Ukraine. This kind of approach to an event that revolves around the display of clothing is controversial within itself. The calculated move steps in a direction that doesn’t align at all with runway history and instead enters the sphere of politics and social commentary - or what Demna refers to as a “worldwide spiritual emergency”. Some go as far as to say that Demna is bringing the original intent of fashion back by making it art again, and taking a step away from the commodification of clothing and media marketing of trends.

Social media and press coverage has always had the power to transform runway shows into global cultural moments, attracting consumers and engaging viewers in a way that will result in an increase of sales. Although “360 Degrees'' was far from short of coverage and media engagement, it most definitely didn’t attract as much discourse as it should’ve about the clothing pieces themselves.  The highly promoted Winter 2022 runway show was boldly political in more ways than one - breaching several hot topics in its duration. 

In highlighting the Ukrainian invasion, Demna creates a bold commentary on elitism by physically formatting the show in a way that removes much of its conventional social aspects, making the show look like a distant spectacle that can only be seen through glass. This layout makes a statement about the isolation and disconnection that has affected this generation as a result of social technology such as VR. The turbulent winter scene within the arena was supposed to seem removed from this world, as if the audience was reminiscing on what winter used to be like, before temperatures began rising due to global warming. The title of the show, “360 Degrees,” directly contrasts with the frigid scene created by Demna, yet strategically pulls viewers out of the show’s diegesis. Viewers were not in the storm and chaos with the models, rather they were looking from afar, removed from the situation and merely left to reflect upon it. Demna commented on this set design after the show: “In a not-so-distant future, what was once considered ubiquitous – banal, even – is now rarefied, often only experienceable via simulation… Weather, for example, is machine-made or rendered digitally; snow is exotic." The event was, in all, a very saturated analysis on the current state of the world in terms of war, technology, and the planet: chaotic, worrisome, yet removed and disconnected from reality.

As Demna takes the future of clothing exhibitions in a radically new direction, many wonder whether the designer pieces are losing value as a result of the political and social commentary gaining momentum instead. Designer collections have always showcased the company director’s personally designed art. The underlying meanings within 360 Degrees were personally chosen by Demna as well as the clothing, hence the entire show was one man’s vision. These newfound controversies have definitely changed the spectacle of such events, as audiences and consumers have been subjected to not only the director’s artistic vision, but also their political and social beliefs. Regardless of critics’ opinions on the messages revealed by the show or the clothing/lack of clothing itself, the Winter 2022 Balenciaga show has revolutionized the nature of fashion shows, the definition of designer brands, and has broadened possibilities for future large-scale fashion events.