When Demna showed Balenciaga's Winter 22 collection at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year, it served as a commentary for many things. Inside a swirling, simulated real-life snow globe, models struggled against the snow to signify Demna's struggle as a teenage refugee and the ongoing displacement of Ukrainians as a result of Russia's attack on the country; it also touched on our future at the hands of climate change, and the idea of what it may be like if weather becomes mostly simulated. Now, for the corresponding Winter 22 campaign, Demna revisits these themes with the likes of Alexa Demie, Big Matthew, Khadim Sock, and Kim Yeon-koung, and Kim Kardashian.
Throughout the campaign, models pose in a range of environments. Demie is captured in a desert-scape, while Big Matthew is pictured at the beach with a trash bag, while Sock stands amongst rocks and glaciers. Yeon-koung is captured amid a field of flowers, and Kardashian appears as though she is walking on water, the ocean underfoot with a stormy sky overhead.
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The Crush Bag, HD Sneaker, Swing Bag, Knife Wader, Trash Pouch, and Glove Boot, as well as a hybrid bodysuit dress, trompe l’oeil slip dress, towel top, XXXL hoodie, faux-feather boa, pullover jacket, simulated fur coat, and more from the collection are styled in the wrong environments, with layered pieces dressed on models in the hot sun, while minimal clothing is given to those in glacial atmospheres.
The campaign was captured by Daniel Roché, a Berlin-based photographer who was responsible for the first Balenciaga Underwear and Swimwear campaigns. Here, the campaign imagery is accompanied by a series of moving images by Barcelona-based director Mau Morgo, in which environments quickly change via timelapse photography from one season to another, while looks stay constant.
See the Balenciaga Winter 22 campaign imagery, below.
