Photographer Nadia Lee Cohen [IG] shoots the Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2022 campaign in what might be the most sober snaps in the Brit’s portfolio. Models Abdou Diop, Bella Hadid, Inti Wang , Kit Butler, Lina Zhang, and Zhuo Chen are joined by French-Malian pop singer Aya Nakamura. Samia Giobellina styles the campaign, with art direction by Balenciaga’s Demna himself./ Hair by Gary Gill; makeup by Inge Grognard

For Cohen, the Balenciaga Pre-Fall 2022 campaign breaks as the photographer opens her first solo US exhibition ‘HELLO, My Name Is’ at Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles. The Nadia Lee Cohen show is open thru August 13, 2022 at 925 N Orange Drive.

Demna and Black

Demna channels the mid-to-late ‘90s, a time he imagines that the only permitted fashion color was black. Being only 14 in 1995, the Balenciaga creative star agrees that he can’t really remember the clothes from the period. The marketing for the show included a cassette marked ‘Balenciaga: The Lost Tape.’

“It’s like discovering a show that never happened—it was a blurry period for Balenciaga, before Nicolas Ghesquière arrived,” the marketing explains. Reflecting on the cassette, Demna describes it artfully: “It’s like a useless, archeological artifact. I like nostalgia. I think it gains new value when everything is metaverse and cyber,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, I do embrace those projects too, with the games, clones, cyber-fiction, and everything.”

Regarding Demna’s imagining that the color black ruled in the ‘90s, he has to be correct, even though AOC can’t validate his genius memory. The recollection isn’t one we shared, but what matters is that black is Demna’s fav color. Period.

We’re hung up on the rise of Black culture during the ‘90s here in America — including hip hop becoming really entrenched — and a whole lot of color. Demna’s memory is one of “gay Soviet Georgia underground clubs.”

AOC’s confusion may be as simple as that differentiation between Soviet Georgia and the USA ‘90s style. It’s interesting, though, how black color vs Black culture is also relevant in the search results of ‘90s fashion.

Sustainability at Balenciaga

Balenciaga shared really exciting news on the sustainability front, including the brand’s shift to using ‘fourth choice’ leathers. These hides have been rejected for some imperfection, and the term ‘fourth choice’ is theirs.

“Everything we buy is made from leftover skins that would otherwise be burned. If you can make it into a skirt or a jacket, why not? You can find a lot of this, all over the place. We’ve been doing this for a while.”

Balenciaga is also using the use of GOTS-certified organic cotton, recycled polyamide and polyester, and responsibly sourced viscose.