Balenciaga’s comeback is happening

Demna, the mononymic designer for Balenciaga, that ancient forerunner of all things haute and cool who experimented a very public fall from grace last winter, you just can’t resist a visual metaphor. His collections became famous as commentaries on the world around us and then infamous: he sent refugees trudging through a maelstrom after Russia invaded the Ukraine; fetishized capitalism on the New York Stock Exchange; and then came uncomfortably close to associating children with sadomasochism when he posed a young man among adult “toys,” reminding the watching world that those who thrive on the viral image risk dying from it.

So what do you say your resort collection, released digitally on May 30, features video of models emerging from the vaulted wooden doors of Balenciaga’s Avenue George V headquarters, walking back out into the world in their shoulder pads, hoodies with hood and beaded dresses? , only to be drenched in a sudden downpour?

Coming three days after the end of a Cannes Film Festival that saw more Balenciaga appear on the red carpet than since last November, the message is pretty clear: Balenciaga is in the midst of his comeback, baby.

Welcome to the next stage of The Return. or as Mosha Lundstrom Halbert he called it on TikTok, the “Balenciagassance”. If the powers that be at Balenciaga can pull it off, they will have added a new chapter to the story of early 21st century cancel culture, becoming not just a case study in mismanaging a crisis, but one in how to design a recovery strategy without the public defenestration of the decision makers involved.

As you may remember, the once most popular brand in the world fell into disrepute after a troika of events: its closure relationship with you before his turn to public antisemitism and racism; and a couple of ad campaigns that viewers said promoted pedophilia had her on the brink of disaster. Balenciaga products were burned on social networks; Kim Kardashian condemned the election; sales during the crucial holiday period fell sharply. Even in a fashion world regularly plagued by misappropriation and offense, the situation was dire.

Caught in a whirlwind of public opprobrium, Demna and the brand’s executives seemed unsure how to react, before finally offering statements of public apologies and self-recrimination. Then, after what seemed like a self-imposed timeout, they tiptoed out of the shadows with a spectacle in February: a single march of the penitents no props or social commentary, just clothes.

But then came the Met Gala and Demna’s first major public appearance, albeit in a fashion-safe space, where she hosted a table for young designers who couldn’t afford their own tickets. Then came Cannes and the return of red carpet names to the fold.

It was clear that some kind of master plan was unfolding. One that was tactical and considered and with some of fashion’s most influential power players carefully pulling the public’s strings.

Anna Wintour, for example, who deliberately invited Demna to the Met and who has made something of a personal cause for second chances: planning the return of John Galliano fashionable after he was fired from Dior thanks to an anti-Semitic tirade fueled by drugs and alcohol, as well as supporting Georgina Chapman after the crimes of her ex-husband, Harvey Weinstein, tarnished her brand, Marchesa. In fact, Wintour said, she was “delighted” that Demna was attending the Met, citing her “sincere” apology and her commitment “to make changes to the house.”

“I’ve always thought that part of acknowledging one’s mistakes is not hiding, but being honest, and going out and facing the world,” he said.

Their hug sent a signal to the rest of the fashion world, as did the fact that François-Henri Pinault, the billionaire CEO of Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns Balenciaga, wore a Balenciaga tuxedo to the Met instead of one of his many other brands, such as Saint Laurent, Gucci or Brioni. It was a public display of his commitment to the brand and his designer.

Pinault doubled down on her endorsement at Cannes, once again wearing Balenciaga “on purpose,” she said. And it wasn’t just Mr. Pinault: His wife, Salma Hayek Pinault, also wore Balenciaga, as did Michelle Yeoh, Isabelle Huppert, Alton Mason and French singer Yseult, in red carpet images that would be captured and sent around the world. the world. , putting his brand equity where Balenciaga’s was.

As to why, Cédric Charbit, Balenciaga’s chief executive, said everyone wore custom looks and “that happens through long-term relationships.”

“It’s not an overnight process, and it needs to be meaningful,” he said. Suggesting, again, that the decisions were planned gestures of affirmation.

The chosen site also seemed like a carefully calibrated choice, given that an equally, if not more controversial, return to Johnny Depp to the big screen, it also took place in Cannes, paving the way. (Also, the buzz over Balenciaga had always been less in Europe than in the United States, so it made sense to start the comeback there.)

It’s true that when the photos of Ms. Yeoh and co. in their Balenciagas surfaced, there were some comments on social media criticizing them, but any backlash was outweighed by the fire emojis. In general, the reaction was almost non-existent. Diet Prada did not issue a peep.

The outraged mob had apparently moved on. Luca Solca, an analyst in the luxury goods market, compared the Balenciaga situation with the Gucci “blackface difficulty” 2019. “We have seen in the past that media mishaps have two to three-quarters of an impact and then they normalize,” he said. He added that he expected Balenciaga to be “home and dry by the second half of 2023.”

Now the question is whether Balenciaga can recapture the buzz and sales it generated before its meltdown, a trickier sleight of hand to pull off. It’s one that requires the alchemical combination of products and desire that Demna once generated by upending all expectations and challenging outdated ideas of “beauty” and “luxury.”

Whereas the cruise collection had some of that embedded in its signature oversized suits, padded opera trenches, and diva dresses: “drawstring” bags that looked like the drawstring bags used to carry groceries; “towel” wrap skirts that looked like bath towels; those pieces no longer seem revolutionary. Like the March ready-to-wear collection, they’re familiar.

Alright. As Hermès has shown, there are gains in consistency, if not excitement. And Demna can create truly beautiful and sophisticated garments, with the purity of lines synonymous with the house. She sees a fan-folded silk dress with winged sleeves that suggests the body while framing it like a bas-relief. But the magic that was once there, that sense of joyous, liberating, absurd challenge?

That hasn’t come back yet.