Balenciaga's FW23 Collection Returns to the Art of Making Clothes

Style, Trends

Balenciaga’s FW23 Collection Returns to the Art of Making Clothes

By Cheryl Ong
May 18, 2023

Demna’s Balenciaga heralds a new era for the fashion house with its upgraded quintessential silhouette.

Away from the eminent bleak and dystopian looks Demna’s Balenciaga is well known for, the new Fall 2023 collection goes back to what the industry has always celebrated — the art of making clothes. Departing from the brand’s typical sombre aesthetic, the new collection is surrounded by updated classic Balenciaga motifs, from suit jackets, tracksuits, signature bags and shoes. Jackets get bigger in volume and materiality, while the parkas act like wraps. The garments focus on tailoring, while accessories are made more sustainably with recycled or bio-based materials. If anyone has watched TikTok videos on “how to dress like a Balenciaga model”, this collection is the secret to the formula.

Presented in a tongue-in-cheek collation of “fit-check” mirror selfies, the collection teeters on performative and even introspective, encouraging one to consider how they, or the brand, is now presenting itself to the world. New concepts in the fashion industry are offered to us faster than most can keep up with, so perhaps Balenciaga’s bucking of the trend by revamping archival items is intentional; the lack of novel ideas we are used to getting from Demna challenges our consumerist desires of replacing something old for the new, and while some may be displeased, perhaps this discomfort is the point.

So, instead of creating new items, this collection questions if silhouettes could modify how we view the body. The Knife Pantashoes now come in a flesh-tone stocking rendition that is neither pant nor shoe, creating an illusion of someone not wearing any bottoms. Eyewear conceals half the face, providing anonymity. The myriad of bags is in new textures and sizes, including the notable addition of the Mary-Kate bag — an ode to the iconic Olsen twins. The early aughts were all about them and the scuffed-up handbags they carried, and if those bags were stuffed with everything they could fit in it, the eponymous Balenciaga bag allows anyone to do just the same.

With Balenciaga’s gritty theatrics out of sight and out of mind, we are able to focus solely on the clothes. Once again, the reiteration of old ideas contextualised in the now is used.