10 avenue George V is where Balenciaga's Paris HQ has sat since Cristobal Balenciaga began his legacy in the building in 1937. Situated in the 8th arrondissement, around the corner from the Champs-Élysées, the building's surrounding streets act as the backdrop for the Balenciaga Spring 24 collection this morning.
In a video clip released by the brand, models disguised as passersby weave amongst each other as they populate the street, all dressed head to toe in Balenciaga's Spring 24 collection. People emerge from the great wooden doors, storm past carrying Balenciaga shopping bags, hop onto bikes, walk their dogs, deliver packages. Directed in one continuous shot by Mau Morgó and scored with BFRND’s rework of Édith Piaf’s Sous le Ciel de Paris, the brand explores everyday, mundane activities through its signature lens.
The Balenciaga Spring 24 collection is composed of two chapters: Garde-Robe (Balenciaga’s line of refined wardrobe essentials) and seasonal ready-to-wear components. All nod back to the idea of essentiality, of everyday items (save for the three ball gowns at the end of the film), of the mundane and the easy. Even when it begins to pour down rain, it doesn't deter the Balenciaga man, woman, or person from confidently engaging in everyday activities.
In contrast to the brand's Fall 23 collection, which heavily referenced Balenciaga's signature codes and erred on the side of classicism as opposed to what we are usually so familiar with when it comes to Demna's Balenciaga, this collection strikes a balance in the middle ground. Shapes are slightly more subversive than last season, but with the absence of punk leather silhouettes and gimp masks. At risk of sounding like a broken record, it seems like Demna is another to jump on the "quiet luxury" bandwagon, once again ditching the logos that their cult consumer so looks forward to, and replacing them with long fluid trench coats, all black ensembles, and Pantashoe biker boots.
The pulse of Paris is alive in its residents. Those who are maneuvering through the city at their own pace with their own stories. For Spring 24, Balenciaga offers an observation on this metropolitan life. If you can't get to Paris to sit at a Bistrot and people watch, let the below clip satiate you.
