Kanye West walks the runway at Balenciaga’s muddy Paris Fashion Week show.
The 45-year-old founder of Yeezy launched Balenciaga’s spring/summer 2023 presentation over the weekend during Paris fashion week. He modeled an all-black, combat-ready ensemble that included a baseball cap and heavy-duty utility vest branded with the word Security.
The actual runway, which took place outside at the city’s Parc des Expositions, was covered in what appeared to be an ankle-deep swath of mud.
According to reports, West’s five children—North, 9; Saint, 6; Chicago, 4; and Psalm, 3—whom he shares with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian were present to show their support for their father. Kylie Jenner was also there. According to Elle, Doja Cat and Alexa Demie, who stars in Euphoria, were among the celebrities that attended the event.
Later in the presentation, Bella Hadid and a few other models appeared onstage with their faces painted to make it look like they had been battered and damaged. The dramatic look was debuted not long after Hadid’s headline-making stunt at the end of the Coperni show. During that performance, Hadid closed the show wearing little more than a spray-painted design in front of the audience in real-time.
Demna Gvasalia, the creative director of Balenciaga, introduced the collection with the concept that one’s unique identity is a battleground.
According to what you read, part of his comment, one needs to have the bravery and determination to assume their identity and become who they are genuine. And the more you strive to be yourself, the more others will punch you in the face… So after being beaten up and pushed down, the task is to pick yourself back up and keep moving toward your actual self.
Santiago Sierra, a conceptual artist, known for provocative works investigating socioeconomic inequity issues, was responsible for designing the muddy backdrop for the performance. One of his most infamous works, titled 160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People, was completed in the year 2000. For this piece, he paid a group of heroin-addicted prostitutes the price of a hit of the drug in return for allowing him to tattoo a line over each of their backs.