With Balenciaga’s new range embracing a term that the fashion industry once shied away from, the era of quiet luxury may finally be over
I
s luxury an £8m Birkin bag? Logging out of social media? A Japanese toilet with a pre-defecation misting function? A three-figure lipstick? A morning bath? Or even a £9,000 stainless steel coffin that looks a bit like Elon Musk’s “luxury” Cybertruck?
Chipping into the conversation this month is a £1,590 cotton hoodie with a faux fur-trimmed hood by Balenciaga, emblazoned with the word itself with the brand’s name scrawled into the Y’s cursive tail. Worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in the latest issue of British Vogue as she chops a pineapple in the very luxurious marble kitchen of her Hamptons home, the hoodie is the gag in the scene – but is it funny, or just obscene? Are you in on the joke?
It will come as no surprise that it was designed by Demna Gvasalia. The ultimate provocateur, Demna (who goes by his first name) pulled “Is it ironic?” stunts like this throughout his tenure at Balenciaga (he recently moved to Gucci). He caused outrage with trainers covered in fake mud, a skirt that looked like a towel and a four-figure bag that resembled Ikea’s 75p Frakta carrier. There was also Kim Kardashian wrapped in Balenciaga-branded duct tape, high-heeled Crocs and that ill-thought-out advertising campaign. So while the collab between an ordinary item of clothing and the word “Luxury” is not that surprising in this context, it is timely, particularly as the high-end fashion market attempts to navigate its way through a slump after a three-year surge. While other brands have leaned into stories of craftsmanship or exclusivity as a way of justifying higher prices, the design of the Balenciaga hoodie resembles a £15 version from Temu. All that is missing is, well, that luxury branding.
