Balenciaga redefines summer with style and distance
Balenciaga unveils “High Summer”, a visual campaign designed by Roe Ethridge.
An icy, ironic vision of summer escapism.
A deliberately offbeat aesthetic
Roe Ethridge doesn’t photograph the summer of dreams. He captures a frozen, almost awkward summer. The poses are stiff. The faces are impassive. The settings evoke impersonal vacation spots: empty swimming pools, standardized hotel rooms, charmless palm trees. Balenciaga hijacks the codes of travel to question them.
Clothes as summer armor
The“High Summer” collection plays on contrasts. Extra-large black sunglasses, oversized hoodies, rigid bags… nothing light, everything assertive. The wardrobe rejects classic comfort. It imposes a strong, almost armored silhouette. Balenciaga doesn’t suggest escaping, but exposing oneself. Even in direct sunlight.
An icy but assertive sense of humor
The campaign verges on the absurd. It hijacks summer advertising codes. The models never smile. The situations seem banal, but their visual treatment makes them disturbing. Roe Ethridge excels in the in-between. He transforms each image into an ironic commentary on our relationship with luxury and escape.
An ever more identifiable signature
With “High Summer”, Balenciaga continues its unique visual narrative. The house rejects immediate glamour. It prefers iconoclasm, visual tension and discomfort. Demna imposes a vision on fashion, not just a trend. Roe Ethridge extends this vision, between distance and fascination.
Balenciaga signs a summer campaign that goes against the grain, as powerful as it is enigmatic. To explore other cliché-busting houses, visit parisselectbook.com.
