Balenciaga is the high-end fashion house beloved by everyone from Grace Kelly to Kim Kardashian. Despite the backlash it faced in 2022 for using adverts featuring kids holding teddy bears in bondage gear, the brand has made a surprising comeback.
Known for its unconventional designs, Balenciaga continues to push boundaries, now selling postcards for £70 each. This pack of seven cards, which depict landmark scenes of Paris, seems more suited to a tacky tourist shop. The holiday souvenir range also includes a £725 bum bag and £1,150 ponchos.
Despite controversies, Balenciaga managed to turn over £3.5 billion in revenue last year. However, it appears the brand, founded in 1917 by Cristobal Balenciaga, is mocking its customers. Once a highly respected fashion house, with designer Christian Dior referring to Cristobal as “the master of us all,” the brand’s reputation shifted dramatically under the leadership of Demna Gvasalia in 2015.
Gvasalia’s tenure has been marked by bizarre and often laughable designs, such as gigantic puffer jackets and £975 bin bag dresses. In 2017, Balenciaga released a blue bag resembling an Ikea shopping bag, priced at £1,670, while the original costs just 75p. The absurdity continued with £1,500 dirty trainers, a £1,790 bin-bag handbag, and a £1,765 skirt resembling a car footwell mat.
Despite these eccentric creations, celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, and Dua Lipa still clamor to wear Balenciaga. Kim even donned branded caution tape for the brand’s 2022 Paris Fashion Week show. Although the bondage teddy bear bags prompted fierce online criticism and a £21 million lawsuit, celebrities like Katy Perry, Nicole Kidman, and Michelle Yeoh attended Balenciaga’s recent catwalk show in Paris.
The question remains: why do celebrities and fashion enthusiasts continue to support this brand despite its controversial past and exorbitant prices? To me, it seems like a bit of a con.
For those still eager for Balenciaga’s quirky designs, a trip to a local car boot sale might offer similar items at a fraction of the price. My advice: avoid Balenciaga and save your money. Who knows, that souvenir fridge magnet from Alicante might soon be worth a lot more as a Balenciaga dupe.
