DEAD ON: Balenciaga has taken its normcore approach to advertising up another notch.
The French fashion label’s fall campaign shows women seated or propped on chairs on a set covered with the Balenciaga logo carpet that was used in the brand’s fall fashion show, held in Paris in March. The images by Johnny Dufort have the unaffected look of an instant snapshot.
“The series portrays a viewpoint specific to creative director Demna Gvasalia: the attitude that embeds his ideas about fashion in real life observation and the co-option of the surprise of the ordinary,” Balenciaga said in a statement.
Styled by Lotta Volkova, the campaign features models Sveta Black, Oliwia Lis, Kennah Lau and Barbra-Lee Grant alongside Danish actress Emma Leth and New York artist Eliza Douglas, in items including a trench coat with a draped shoulder and a skirt shaped from a car mat.
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“Here, all the definitive components of the chic Parisian day wardrobe are put together pinpointed from the Knife stiletto up,” Balenciaga said. Gary Gill did the hair, Inge Grognard the makeup and Huberte Cesarion the nails.
The campaign reflects Gvasalia’s ethos of “enhancing, underlining and re-presenting that which already exists in a new light.”
In February, Balenciaga rolled out a stripped-down version of its e-commerce site, and in March it unveiled the overhaul of its Rue Saint-Honoré flagship with a new concept designed to resemble a clothing warehouse. A second store with the same concept is set to open on Avenue Montaigne in September.
The Kering-owned brand, which has 115 stores worldwide, under its new chief executive officer Cédric Charbit recently revved up its management team for merchandising and retail development.
Among other new retail initiatives, Balenciaga in the run-up to the Avenue Montaigne opening will soon take over the first floor of Colette for one month as the first in a series of monthlong takeovers with brands including Saint Laurent and Sacai. Balenciaga’s slot is scheduled to run June 19 to Aug. 5.
More on Balenciaga:
Balenciaga to Open Avenue Montaigne Store
Balenciaga to Open First-Floor Brand Takeovers at ColetteBalenciaga Adds Four to Executive CommitteeBalenciaga Rolls Out Stripped-Down E-Commerce Site