Alexa Demie’s presence at Balenciaga’s fall 2022 runway show during Paris Fashion Week was hard to miss. The “Euphoria” actor, who recently became the fashion house’s muse, nailed her new role in an all-black ensemble designed in an unmistakable Balenciaga silhouette. Sporting an oversize, off-the-shoulder button-down shirt worn over a skirt-over-pants combo, Demie brought back a controversial trend from the 2000s and actually made it quite covetable.
The finishing touches – pointy boots, a small bag, a chunky gold choker, and matching earrings – enhanced the ensemble even further, while her newly cut hair and vampy makeup look played to the gothic theme. We have a feeling Maddy Perez would approve of the micro bangs and blue and purple eyeshadow especially.
Seated front row at the Le Bourget Halle d’Expositions, Demie watched the show alongside Kim Kardashian (who was wrapped in yellow Balenciaga caution tape), Salma Hayek, and Anna Wintour among others.
For Demna, the Balenciaga ready-to-wear show was deeply personal, with models mostly clad in dark ensembles battling manufactured snow and wind – reflecting his own experience of fleeing war in Abkhazia, Georgia, in 1993. They stomped through a post-apocalyptic environment, which was also a nod to anxieties around climate change, wearing oversize suits, thigh-high boots, large tote bags, and futuristic sunglasses.
At a time when the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looms large, the creative director opted to present a symbolic tribute to the strength of the human spirit. He even included blue and yellow (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) T-shirts on every guest’s chair.
From the snow-globe simulation to the pared-down silhouettes, each element expressed our collective dread, while at the same time offering hope for whatever lies ahead. As Demna writes in the show notes, “this show is a dedication to fearlessness, to resistance, and to the victory of love and peace.”
Ahead, check out some details from the Balenciaga fall 2022 collection, and view Alexa Demie’s gothic look from different angles.
