Balenciaga’s Shanghai Fantasy Featured Fancy Ladies and Vertigo-Inducing Platforms

Just before his Fall 2024 Balenciaga runway show in Paris in March, Demna left a voice message for everyone attending, accessible through a QR code in his collection notes. He said: “What seems truly rare and infinite right now is actually creativity itself. I believe that creativity has secretly become a new form of luxury.” This is really the entire thesis of Demna’s design vernacular. Approaching luxury as a self-expressive playground rather than a rule-bound gilded hall has made his tenure at Balenciaga a wild success over the last nine years.

Lately, he has been reminding everyone what he’s all about. Beginning in October 2023, he’s shown a series of collections that speak to his core codes, which come with a punkish, provocative attitude and a lot of padded shoulders. But even as Demna stays true to his vision, he is never one to remain static. Last night’s Spring 2025 runway show (technically Resort 2025) was staged in Shanghai. Despite having more store locations in China than any other part of the world, this was Balenciaga’s first time showing in the country, and it had apparently been in the works for several years.

The Shanghai collection, shown on a rainy night at the spectacularly imposing Museum of Art Pudong, was another page-turner of a chapter in the book of Demna. The collection focused on his intellectually curious explorations of Balenciaga’s house codes and more twisted ideas of classic glamour. Demna loves a reality show, and it wasn’t hard to imagine the cast members of Netflix’s Bling Empire wearing some of the quirky rich-lady clothes on the runway, whether at home in L.A. or outside on the streets of China’s largest city. You saw the twerked polish in the hourglass skirts and billowy pussy-bow blouses worn with slinky open-toe heels and white tube socks or ripped-fabric pantaboots. The cropped and bulky trenches and cocooning faux-fur coats gave off an “I’m expensive” vibe, but also an aura of zero fucks given. As Demna has always been wont to give us, there were tinges of tackiness made sharp by perfect tailoring and distinct lines.

There was a hefty offering of men’s, too, and the reveal of a new collaboration between Balenciaga and Under Armour. The viral pièce de résistance was the triple-layer brick-size flatform boot inspired by the city’s towering vertical skyscrapers, which will undoubtedly turn up on the feet of Demna’s coolest fanatics when they drop.

The couture looks in the finale were magic, especially the dresses made with upcycled materials, like the pink gown that closed the show. It was crafted with decade-old plastic bags that had been hand-cut into strips and fastened with wire to create the impression of feathers. A sleeveless draped and gathered dress was made using gold-foil gift packaging, while two other looks were constructed from Tyvek paper and collected travel bags. There was also what the collection notes referred to as a “black velvet jewelry display dress,” which is exactly what it sounds like and made for an arbiter of taste who prefers luxury with a side of microdose.

Demna has always had a love affair with Shanghai and his customer base there, and it’s why he and his team spent years planning this show. But as much as he may be operating on a different plane from the rest of us, he is also a pretty pragmatic guy at the end of the day. The luxury market in Asia continues to boom and balloon, and bringing the world of Balenciaga to China via a big-budget show is a great business move. Demna is a master at achieving that kind of balance between creative integrity and sellable products. It’s what makes him such a brilliant artistic director and visionary. In Shanghai or elsewhere, he is still designing clothes that make us think and make us feel—two things money can’t buy.

Balenciaga Resort 2025

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Brooke Bobb is the fashion news director at Harper’s Bazaar, working across print and digital platforms. Previously, she was a senior content editor at Amazon Fashion, and worked at Vogue Runway as senior fashion news writer.