Balenciaga’s Shanghai Show: Futurism and Resilience Amid the Storm

On Thursday evening, rain poured over the dimly lit exterior of Shanghai’s Pudong Art Museum, the stage for Balenciaga’s Spring 2025 collection. This setting mirrored the brand’s current challenges: over the past year and a half, Balenciaga has struggled to recover from the backlash of its controversial campaign, while public affection for its iconic «Demna-isms» faded. Nonetheless, the brand was prepared with black umbrellas, shielding front-row attendees like Sophie Marceau and Michelle Yeoh, giving the event a cyberpunk atmosphere.

The collection opened with monochromatic formalwear, featuring Demna’s avant-garde tailoring. Blazers with massive shoulders and elongated sleeves paired with roomy trousers. Black leather bags, simply branded, accessorized grey trenches and green overcoats, revealing bulky footwear with seven-inch platforms.

For a moment, it seemed Demna was adhering to his promise of a more mature approach. However, his signature provocative style soon resurfaced. Models carried shoe boxes transformed into clutches and wore towering sneakers with six-inch midsoles.

Highlights included a T-shirt collaboration with AliPay and a previously teased Under Armour partnership, which included co-branded technical jackets and track pants. Both collaborations were available for purchase online immediately after the show.

The latter half of the collection featured colorful evening gowns and oversized outerwear. Sherpa, leather, and gabardine coats, doubling as bags, dominated. Avant-garde pieces followed, including a shiny gold dress reminiscent of Yeoh’s Met Gala gown and a white billowing dress contrasted with a silky black one adorned with glamorous jewelry. The final look, a pink feathered gown, moved down the damp runway with an uncanny calmness.

Despite its controversies, Balenciaga remains unafraid to challenge norms. The Spring 2025 show in Shanghai, held on May 30, stayed true to Demna’s playful silhouettes and memorable takes on everyday garments. Dominated by black, the collection featured baggy layers, hoodies under long coats, awkward-but-good robe jackets, and massive platforms, hinting at a return of mid-2010s health goth aesthetics. The outdoor show, held in the pouring rain at the Pudong Art Museum by the Huangpu River, saw models march intrepidly through the weather, reinforcing the brand’s resilience and avant-garde spirit.

Words: @annaamaso