“This collection is the perfect way for me to finish my decade at Balenciaga.”
That’s how Demna chose to open his farewell note—and what followed was nothing short of a love letter, a manifesto, and an emotional mic drop all stitched into one final couture symphony.
For his last couture collection at the House, Demna didn’t just design clothes. He sculpted farewells, engineered memories, and threaded his entire creative soul into fabric. “I have come as close as possible to being satisfied in this endless pursuit of impossible perfection,” he confesses—his words echoing the ghost of Cristóbal Balenciaga himself, whose impossible standards still linger in the atelier air like perfume.
Shot across the romantic bones of Paris, the city where it all began for him, this collection is a visual postcard from Demna to fashion. From Medici collars and Nosferatu necklines to an hourglass silhouette reimagined with “comfortable corsetry” (yes, it’s finally here), he gave La Bourgeoisie a sharp, sculptural makeover—and a side-eye.
He calls it his “ultimate wardrobe,” but it’s not ballroom-only business. Imagine the lightest bomber jacket, a silk taffeta “business” blouson, or a puffer with no side seams. A biker-cut maxi coat in cashmere-vicuña, and faux corduroy pants made with 300 km of tufted embroidery—“the first corduroy pants I actually want to wear.” That’s Demna for you.
Cristóbal’s DNA pulses through every stitch. There’s the Danielle suit, a houndstooth homage to 1967, and a floral sequined twinset pulled straight from his grandma’s kitchen tablecloth. Emotional? Absolutely. Sentimental? Beautifully so.
Then came the Hollywood tributes: A “Diva” dress for Marilyn. A pink “Debutante” fantasy gown. And a dripping-in-diamonds ode to Elizabeth Taylor, worn by none other than Kim Kardashian. That “mink” coat? It’s not mink—it’s embroidered feathers. And those iconic Taylor earrings? Real. From Lorraine Schwartz’s private vault.
Demna worked with four Neapolitan family-run ateliers to cut nine suits as “one-size-fits-all,” made-to-measure on a bodybuilder and then worn by models of every shape. “It is not the garment that defines the body, but the body that defines the garment.” A quote that belongs in a fashion gospel.
Over 1,000 carats of custom jewels. Couture sneakers made by hand. Briefcases that moonlight as laptop-sized jewelry boxes. Handbags labeled with your name, not a logo. Fans from the Duvelleroy archives. Brooches made from discarded tissue paper and silk scraps by Maison Lemarié and William Amor. It’s not just couture—it’s emotion, rebellion, and tenderness rolled into one final act.
And then—like a quiet tear at the end of a standing ovation—the soundtrack plays. Not music. Just the names of his team. Every soul who built this decade with him.
A goodbye collection that isn’t loud—but you feel it in your bones.
From Balenciaga, with love.
From Demna, with everything.
