Demna: He’s Just Like Us
The location for Balenciaga’s Fall 2024 show in L.A. was a tightly held secret until the very last minute, but it was fun to try and guess where the brand’s first show in the City of Angels might be staged. Maybe the Hollywood Cemetery or the Scientology Center? Or better yet, what if it was at a certain reality star’s house in Calabasas?
The Balenciaga team lobbed a few clues our way in the days leading up to the big reveal. Some invites came with a Balenciaga travel coffee mug, others with a metal Balenciaga energy bar, and, the day of the show, attendees received bottles of a new charcoal water the brand created in collaboration with L.A.’s cult favorite, celebrity-frequented health food store Erewhon.
Around noon on a perfectly sunny Saturday, caravans of sprinter vans and buses took us to a random parking lot where we were checked in and transferred to another set of buses. From there, everyone was driven to Windsor Square, a palm tree-lined neighborhood punctuated by mansions. The buses pulled over, we walked a couple of blocks, and ta-da, we’d arrived at the show location on Windsor Boulevard, famous for its picture-perfect view of the Hollywood sign.
I’m quite certain the residents had never seen a crowd quite like this one. Flanked by classic homes and manicured lawns, I imagined Cher Horowitz’s crotchety dad in Clueless staring out his library window at a misfit pack of Balenciaga fans (one of whom brought a live snake to the show) decked out in space helmets, pant-a-boots, and speaker handbags. Then there were the stars in the brand’s mononymic creative director Demna’s orbit, including Nicole Kidman, now officially a Balenciaga ambassador, as well as Kendall Jenner, Tracee Ellis Ross, Salma Hayek, and Kim Kardashian.
As everyone made their way to their seats and the pavement cleared, the iconic white letters up on the hilltop in the distance began to seem even more prominent. It felt like we were on the film set of a La La Land sequel waiting for a director to yell “Action!” Then the music started and the models began to stomp down the street, first in a lineup of all-black, Balenciaga-torqued workout wear. There were jogger shorts and leggings, sports bras and running shells, and a new iteration of Demna’s signature, cartoonishly pumped-up sneakers called the 10XL. It was like watching the IRL versions of paparazzi photos of a sweaty Jeremy Allen White after a run or a not-at-all-sweaty Kaia Gerber post-Pilates, the likes of which Demna said he had on his design moodboard.
The soundtrack, which was written and composed by Demna and his husband Loïk Gomez, was a thumping beat and chant paired back to hilarious and oddly mesmerizing fake radio advertisements pushing L.A.-centric woo-woo wellness programming. These were inspired, Demna said, by sitting in traffic in L.A. with the radio on, the nonstop noise pulsing through the car speakers luring you into plastic surgery or an ice bath.
Next came the trashy-glam princess vibes by way of velour tracksuits embellished with rhinestone crowns on the back and worn with balloon-toed, platform stiletto Ugg-like boots. Models carried coffee cups and giant overstuffed shoulder bags and wore their pants and thong underwear “whale tail” style. If MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 was still airing today, Balenciaga could be the sponsor.
A group of grungy skate girls and dudes were on display, too, some in leopard print and others in spliced fabric baggy pants and oversized tees and hoodies. One of Balenciaga’s newest (and most cooly absurd) carryalls premiered in the lineup too: a nylon version of a paper grocery bag from Erewhon. Demna said backstage that he became obsessed with the pristine, ultra-expensive grocery store when he visited for the first time a few days ago, but he’s been hearing tons about it from friends over the last year.
Later in the show came nods to the sort of ladies who traverse Rodeo Drive and might appear on a Real Housewives franchise: tweed skirt suits, skinny jeans, and lacey leggings paired with body-con turtleneck tops, some of which were accessorized with Demna and Balenciaga’s first high jewelry collection (limited edition), made in partnership with jeweler-to-the-stars Jacob & Co.
The cast was, as is typical of Demna, made up of an authentically diverse group of people from all ages, genders, races, and sizes. Actress and model Brigitte Nielsen made a cameo on the runway, as did Cardi B. But while the Fall 2024 collection was clearly influenced by celebrity culture, Demna also used this cinematic experience to bring us back to his passion for couture. The eveningwear, suiting, and red carpet gowns were quite spectacular, especially a Cristobal Balenciaga-inspired white satin couture gown with an exaggerated neckline that covered half of the model’s face.
Backstage after the show, Demna appeared lighter and happier than ever—like he was somehow fully and unapologetically himself again after a difficult year. He seemed to be having fun. When one editor asked him point-blank whether or not he was making fun of L.A. with this collection, he didn’t hesitate. “No, I think it’s the opposite,” he said. “I was showing my love for the influence that I got from this city. This is my favorite city in the world and all of my cultural education as a teenager growing up in a post-Soviet vacuum, they came from here, from movies, from music.” He added, “I wanted to show the multitudes of what L.A. represents to me.”
Demna himself contains multitudes. While his last two shows have been about the purity of the clothes and his personal journey through fashion, with the Fall 2024 collection he seems to have achieved a true sense of balance between what he calls “the cinematic” and the personal, the craft and the Pop Art. In fact, he also noted that with this collection, “there was some kind of an Andy Warhol thing going on for me.”
Sure, there were things we’ve seen from him before, whether it’s the exaggerated tailoring or the plays on trash and flash. But to reduce Demna’s latest offering to repurposed ideas is missing the point. This collection is just as personal as the one he showed in October, that one focused on craft and upcycling and casted with family and friends. It’s an exploration of his creative vernacular and a celebration of all the things that make him whole, both as a person and as a designer.
During his tenure at Balenciaga, Demna has created space for mistakes to be made. His work regularly insists that, when it comes to modes of style and the expectations of luxury, many things can be true at once.
While the show and the collection tapped into hyper-specific L.A. archetypes, these characters speak to a much more profound element of fashion that’s often forgotten amongst the secrets and the spectacles: that you can and should wear and consume whatever makes you feel content and confident. You can dress up or you can dress down. You can live and die by Facetuned selfies or you can go rogue with a Finsta account. You can believe that a $40 jar of sea moss gel will cure all of your ailments and you can still eat In-and-Out once in a while. It can be a couture dress or a pair of nylon shorts, but if it makes you smile, even for a split second, then it’s probably worth it.
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