Kim Kardashian for Balenciaga
COURTESY OF STEF MITCHELL/BALENCIAGA
Kim Kardashian has recently been wearing Balenciaga head-to-toe for momentous events. She most recently wore her hot pink crushed-velvet jumpsuit for Saturday Night Live in October 2021. Last summer she wore all-black looks which further inspired her black ensemble at the Met Gala in September. In December 2021, Kardashian accepted her Fashion Award at the People’s Choice Awards wearing a Balenciaga black corset minidress with oversized bug eye sunglasses (which I may add, may have gained inspiration from Mugler’s Spring/Summer 1997 “Fly” sunglasses).
Kim’s fashion through the years has gone from her era with Paris Hilton and wearing Juicy Couture tracksuits, to Givenchy and Balmain when she was with Kanye, to Yeezy, to her archive era wearing rare Alaïa catsuits, Tom Ford, and finally her 2019 Met Gala look from retired Mugler. You get the picture. There were multiple stages of fashion that Kim had evolved into. Now it's Balenciaga’s turn.
In her Calabasas home, Kim was photographed by Stef Mitchell for the most recent Balenciaga campaign. In one of the images, she wore a black, form-fitted catsuit with black heels and a Le Cagole neon green purse. In another image, she wore an oversized leopard coat with Cagole leather heeled boots and the Le Cagole bag in black. Lastly, she wore an hourglass fitted black trench coat that went down to her calves with a matching hourglass white-crocodile bag, sock stilettos, and bat sunglasses.
Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasalia, has been doing the work behind the scenes to create these looks that Kim has been wearing and in fact also blowing up the internet. His approach to the brand is deconstruction. He wants to work different pieces so they are functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Demna’s most recent campaign is eye-catching. Alongside Kim Kardashian is Justin Bieber, Isabelle Huppert, Tommy Blue, and Marie-Agnès Diene. Typically, the brand’s approach to photographing for campaigns would focus on photos of pale, Victorian-looking, Berlin kids. Lately Demna has been playing with celebrity and entertainment aspects to capture attention, and so far this approach has made people crave the brand even more.
Established in 1919, Balenciaga’s initial goal was to revolutionize women’s fashion with new silhouettes such as “ballroom hems” and “semi-fit” lines. Demna has looked closely at the Balenciaga House archives to maintain the original designs of Cristobal Balenciaga. He had a close eye for cut, material, and shape. With new approaches in campaigns, the original designs are still acknowledged and are growing with modernity.
