STYLE

By Pema Bakshi

3 December 2024

At Balenciaga Fall 2025, The Austere Meets the Absurd For A Study On The Completed Wardrobe

Demna 'leaks' a collection that plays on duality and extremes.

On ‘Cyber Monday’ of all days, Balenciaga’s Demna chose to drop Fall 2025, unveiled as a ‘leak’ on his personal social media. Eschewing the distractions of runway scenography or even hair and makeup, the images—initially watermarked and taken by the creative director on his phone—present the styled looks in their purest form. Raw and unglossed.

Never one to neatly meet expectations, the latest collection explores contemporary wardrobe essentials through the lens of pure pragmatism. For this season, Demna examines the complete wardrobe, offering a spectrum of his aesthetic vision from austere, minimalist eveningwear to bold everyday ready-to-wear, all explicitly anchored in comfort. Both the opening and closing looks aim to subvert the humble T-shirt—a staple of everyone’s wardrobe. Where one expands the silhouette into an oversized maxi dress in fluid black jersey, the latter shrinks it to form a semi-fitted bodycon white T-shirt mini-dress. This tension between extremes is felt throughout the collection, with contrast reigning supreme. Pristine garments clash with ultra-distressed pieces, voluminous skirts meet their micro-counterparts, and overstuffed slippers are balanced by shoes reduced to clip-on soles, probing the limits of ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’.

Elsewhere, elegant silhouettes reminiscent of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s 1951 designs shine in tailored tracksuits made from pleated nylon, linen and fluid twill, as well as wool gabardine and jersey to nod to the founder’s signature ‘semi-fitted’ shapes. Meanwhile, casual outfits are reimagined in utilitarian fabrics like stonewashed flannel. Hybridity takes focus as Western leather jackets are hacked and spliced, and football jerseys are recontextualised in laser-cut calfskin. Eliciting double-takes is a House special, and he achieves this through clever trompe-l’œil applications like suits crafted from Japanese denim, woven to appear as melange cotton and a sweatsuit disguised as a leather jacket and motorcycle pants.

Demna’s signature plays on proportions are present in oversized shirts compressed beneath shrunken knits, while a trademark touch of irony emerges in fan club merch featuring imagery of brand ambassadors like Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Isabelle Huppert and Nicole Kidman.

Accessories ground the collection in practicality and wit. Orthopedic cork footbeds in heels from the Balenciaga X Scholl collaboration elevate comfort, while ultra-light EVA soles evoke the sense of being barefoot. Bags, crafted inside-out or with distressed finishes, and reversible Dashboard clutches with Lamborghini key fob charms underscore the designer’s push to offer something unique with a perspective up to interpretation.