Balenciaga unveiled its Spring 2018 campaign on the brand’s official Instagram account on Wednesday. The ad, which stars model Stella Tennant, plays on a paparazzi-themed format. The campaign launched alongside the Yeezy Season 6 ad where Kanye West dressed his wife Kim Kardashian West in 16 outfits and performed a photoshoot over the span of two days in Calabasas. The style? As though a clique of paparazzi followed her every move. The shoot then expanded into a bevy of Kardashian West clones, including Paris Hilton, who was cast in the shoot. Clearly the riff on prevailing celebrity culture is a theme fashion is playfully exploring at the moment.
But the Balenciaga campaign makes this trending approach to campaign shoots universally appealing. Below we note five reasons why Balenciaga’s Spring 2018 campaign is brilliant.
#1. It was photographed by an actual paparazzi company
The campaign was shot by an actual paparazzi agency, Agence Bestimage.
#2. It plays on the era of celebrity
The campaign plays on the era of celebrity obsession and subverts it, by having the campaign stars using Balenciaga bags (logos in plain sight) as a defence mechanism to shield themselves against prying eyes and aggressive cameras. It makes us want to be the girl wearing head-to-toe Balenciaga desperate for just-me time and, even though the subjects in the shoot are failing to get space, they look so chic. Still.
#3. The models perfectly mimic behavior of off-duty models
By posing in a “no photos, please” way, exiting XL black vehicles, and hurriedly pacing along Avenue Montaigne and Rue Saint-Honoré (outside Balenciaga’s store locations) with body guards in tow, Alek Wek, Raphaele Godin, and co. perfectly execute the off-duty model/A-listers role.
#4. Faces of passers-by are blurred out
The faces of passers-by are blurred out, in true paparazzi fashion, to ensure that the focus is strictly on the products and It-girls darting out of shot.
#5. It draws on meme culture
Fashion memes are practically the new fashion Emoji’s. By spinning the campaign into a mega-meme and rolling it out on Instagram, Balenciaga ensures the sharable images will strike a chord with its millennial market.
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