Balenciaga is a designer that revolutionized fashion with its modern minimalist style and innovative structures and silhouettes.

The designer brand has been dominating the world of fashion as it continues to serve people with avant-garde trends and a daring mystique quality: it draws in a mystery through still designs that are brought alive, which is the essence of Balenciaga: to be simple and effective.

Balenciaga stays relevant by making stylish fashion in the same vicinity of the real world and reflects its circumstances and events. This is what makes the fashion house so iconic and distinct, and with that, Balenciaga can deliver pieces that become widely known and recognizable. Balenciaga is the ‘it brand’ of the world as it is so involved with what is going on culturally, with a Fortnite collaboration as well as teaming up with Kanye West for his Donda album launch, the brand is most definitely in the loop! It is acquainted with the world around them and its audience, which helps people identify and resonate with the brand.

The brand has been in the conversation of the Gen Z fashion world for quite some time and a lot of this is attributed to Vetements creator Demna Gvasalia becoming the brand’s artistic director and designer in 2015. He upholds the torch of the brand’s original master of couture, Cristobal Balenciaga with his fresh take on expressing the moment resulting in killer streetwear and above fashion exhibitions on and off the runway. Almost everyone is swearing by Balenciaga from Kim Kardashian, to Kanye West and Rihanna as well as many Met Gala attendees for the past few years. Balenciaga caters to anyone who wants to be in fashion! Here are Balenciaga’s most iconic moments and pieces that are setting the tone for what’s in fashion today.

Balenciaga Screams Oversized

Balenciaga is known for making oversized and casual pieces a luxury. This pink oversized long jacket completely covers the body leaving people with nothing but interest. Kim Kardashian rocked the look with a crystal hourglass Balenciaga bag and the brand’s iconic knife boot to match the bag. Mixing a high heel with an oversized jacket is a fashion statement that can’t be beaten!

This eye-catching look features the trademark of Balenciaga: all-black monochromatic garments. Kim incorporated the black knife boot which further elongated the look. To top off the outfit, the Kardashian wore a $23 000 shaggy sparkly oversized Balenciaga jacket which enhances the simplicity of the garment with glamour. The jacket proves that Balenciaga always opts to go big, literally, whether that be from oversized jackets to big boots and sneakers, these are the statements that mark Balenciaga in the Gen Z world.

Skinny Heels and Chunky Sneakers: The Leading Shoe Sequence of Gen Z

Balenciaga’s sock sneaker was the hottest shoe on the market in 2017 and 2018, the sleek look was innovative and appealing, while the comfort of the shoes was a bonus. The sock sneaker was adopted in a new way for Balenciaga’s knife boot which features the sock style in a pointed heel boot. The boot’s shape is sharp and skinny from heel to toe. It hugs the foot while extending its length, this style emits a very feline and mysterious quality. It seems like the perfect catwalk heel, so cat-like and sneaking for a bold attack; the shoe is genius in the way that its ever-so-simple shape casts a very sexy effect.

Rihanna wore the knife boots in a chic and edgy style, and yet again, she did not fail to impress! She tucked windbreaker pants inside the boots while wearing oversized outerwear, the skinny boot makes an effective contrast with the outfit’s loose shape and balances out the look with length and mystery.

Balenciaga paved the way for the resurgence of the dad sneaker which is very popular amongst the Gen Z crowd. The Balenciaga Triple S sneaker is like ‘the dad of dad shoes’ for this generation, these chunky trainers reinterpret the idea of an old turbo and techie style shoe typically worn by middle-aged men to be a fashionable luxury worn by all ages!

Bella Hadid looks elegant while styling her Triple S Balenciaga sneaker with a beige turtle neck and a Hermès Birkin bag. She also coordinated the look with baggy jeans which matched perfectly with the trainers because one can never go wrong with the baggy jean and dad sneaker combo!

Balenicaga revivals and Y2K

If you know anything about Y2K fashion, you know that Balenciaga’s Moto bag which was inspired by motorcycles was the ‘it bag’ of that era. The bag is known for its soft leather, loose structure, Balenciaga’s signature studs and tassels. This style made a comeback: the Le Cagole bag was introduced to the world in the pre-fall 2021 collection and it has been the most popular bag of 2022 ever since. This revival adopts the Moto bag style in a crescent shape with very cool buckles and a heart-shaped mirror. Once again, Demna Gvasalia responds to the world around him and the world wants Y2K! Demna Gvasalia understood the assignment, and the Le Cagole bag screams Y2K nostalgia. Everyone from Dua Lipa, Julia Fox, Alexa Demie to Olivia Rodrigo and Kim Kardashian are investing in this bag.

The bag comes in a variety of colours to choose from: neons, and pinks, to purple and black. The Euphoria star, Alexa Demie wore the neon green bag and it was iconic, to say the least. She is slaying the Y2k alternative look with neon green to compliment her black and charcoal grey outfit. The bag is a show stopper and casts Y2K nostalgia like no other.

With Kim Kardashian being the new face of Balenciaga as she walked the brand’s 51st couture collection fashion show as well as becoming a brand ambassador and being the star of their February 2022 campaign, Kim Kardashian seems to be wearing Demnas designs at almost every public appearance for almost a year now. Not only did her teaming with the designer boost the Le Cagole bag but it helped debut the Le Cagole boots that everyone has been obsessing over.

Here, Kim is wearing the Le Cagole boots with the matching bag which epitomizes everything about Balenciaga in the Y2K, from the iconic studs and buckles to the soft leather. Plus, the familiar shape of the knife heel in these Le Cagole boots really makes this shoe an edition that conquers all things Balenciaga!

Head to Toe Balenciaga Bodysuits and the Incognito Masked Sunglasses Trend

Whether it be at Balenciaga’s 51st Couture fashion show, the Fall 2022 ready-to-wear collection or through streetwear, Balenciaga is going “undercover” more than ever this year and the world can’t get enough. From full-gloved bodysuits to helmet shields on the runway and the mask butterfly sunglasses, the mystery of Balenciaga continues to intensify.

Kim Kardashian could not go more incognito with this full black monochromatic catsuit and cape by Balenciaga that she wore from head to toe last year. Her sunglasses were a strong statement and they made quite an impression on Gen Z. The Masked Butterfly sunglasses are stylish through their agent-like style and their high-profile demeanour. They identify with those who want their sunglasses to shield them from observers while still drawing sole attention to their design.

This full-body suit from head to toe was the first look of the Balenciaga 51’st Couture Collection and it was the style sequence for almost a third of the show. The alien-like helmet shield paired with a full-sleeved bodysuit and boots epitomizes the sleekness of Balenciaga and represents its pivotal mark in fashion. The mystery is in the eye of the beholder and although these designs seem still, they somehow managed to be very moving and intense. The ensembles of this couture collection received a lot of good feedback and a lot of backlash, making this the most talked about fashion show in 2022 thus far. Not to mention, Kim Kardashian, Dua Lipa, Naomi Campbell and Nicole Kidman were walking in this scandal of a fashion show as well!

The Truth Lies in Balenciaga

Balenciaga does not sell a dream, it sells the truth and although it is easier to buy into a fantasy that distracts us from reality, Balenciaga always chooses the hard way. The truth is not always pleasant, it is uncomfortable and Demna is known for making people uncomfortable with his designs and exhibitions. He forces observers to explore the realities that they are uncomfortable coming to terms with and this is what makes Demna a master designer, he always pushes and challenges the fashion world to reflect further.

With a climate crisis and war on Ukraine being one of the many hard truths, Balenciaga’s fashion show for the Autumn/Winter 2022 collection brings awareness to these hardships. During the show, Demna exhibits dark and heavy designs as he projects these issues into the atmosphere and ambience of the stage. He sets a stimulation of a blizzard with faux snow that gets progressively worse throughout the show. The models’ walk expresses their struggle to survive the storm and its impact. The show also displayed some looks with the colours of the Ukrainian flag and it had every row of chairs with Ukrainian flag t-shirts laying over them.

Balenciaga is the Future

Balenciaga has always been ahead of its time and even Gen Z is trying to catch up to it. With looks that break the internet and creativity that reaches the unreachable while responding to what is relevant in the world, Balenciaga is a sensation that cannot be beaten! This is only the beginning because, with a success pattern like Balenciaga’s, they will be setting trends in the far future as well!

Published by HOLR Magazine.