Balenciaga’s takeover of Shanghai began at Pudong International Airport, where travelers exiting immigration for baggage claim were greeted by life-size black-and-white photos of actress Yang Chaoyue carrying a Le City bag, looming over the baggage carousels. . It extended to the impossibly chic Regent hotel on the Bund, where room keys came in Balenciaga card sleeves, and to the fashionable Xintiandi district, where the Nu Xiang Mu Dou restaurant, famous for its xiao long bao or soup dumplings, would host a four-day commemorative collaboration à la the infamous Erewhon black smoothie from six months ago: a custom Balenciaga steamed vegan xiao long bao, filled with French black truffle. The skins, expertly rolled and pinched by hand to create sixteen perfect pleats, were the same Balenciaga gray shade as the pyramid-shaped umbrellas that shaded the tables out front.
It’s clear that Demna doesn’t do anything half-heartedly, and the creative director took the opportunity of his first catwalk show in China, where more Balenciaga stores are located than any other country, to indulge in a creative exercise that goes deeper than chinoiserie. “It’s such an important place for Balenciaga, we have such an important audience here,” he said backstage after the show, which has been in the works for years. “You know, I don’t believe in collecting cruises and going out on the boat or anything… but what I believe in is bringing what I do, my vision, to people who appreciate it, consume, and China is that place for me.”
While other houses showed their resort collections, Balenciaga decided to unveil its Spring 2025 men’s and women’s collection at the Museum of Art Pudong, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. Unfortunately, the steamed Win-Win cookies – a small Shanghainese sweet meant to symbolize good luck, painted lucky red and stamped with the double B logo – could not stave off the rain, which started to fall in the late afternoon and into the afternoon. evening show. That said, the rain did nothing to deter the crowds that lined up outside the barricades, donning plastic ponchos and clutching umbrellas, waiting for celebrities like actress and House Ambassador Michelle Yeoh.
Inside the stark white museum was a sea of black. Black visors and wraparound sunglasses, suits with strong shoulders, dresses with lace trim, denim cut from head to toe; even the sea of black umbrellas, provided by the house, adhered to the unspoken dress code. Demna has always played with the artistic collision of high and low, blurring the boundaries between good and bad taste. It’s no wonder his work has won so many fans here in China, where local fashion has followed a similar line for so many years. A 40-yuan top bought from a street vendor wouldn’t have looked out of place, and neither would the man wearing a plain black T-shirt that said Contemporary S**t.
