Balenciaga showcases PUMA and Alpinestar on the runway

One of the most anticipated fashion shows of Paris Fashion Week is always Balenciaga's. The brand by Demna has been able to acquire a cult status over the years and to indicate a direction for the fashion industry to take each season, which in this case is increasingly towards sportswear. Balenciaga presented two collaborations on the runway, one new and one already experimented in the past, with sportswear brands for a collection that skillfully plays with the hybridizations of everyday life. The focus on urban streetwear is very present in this latest effort by Demna, as he explained backstage, obsessed with fit and shapes in a new facet that he has decided to give to the brand. The choice to collaborate with PUMA was therefore natural, given the attention that the German brand has been giving to the fashion world in recent seasons, working with Coperni, KidSuper, Ottolinger and Botter to redefine its positioning in an increasingly competitive landscape.

The Balenciaga | PUMA collaboration pays homage to PUMA's legacy in terms of performance and promotes Balenciaga's exploration of sportswear and performance-inspired design, but above all the roadman aesthetic that defines a specific type of youth subculture in big cities and suburbs. The mirrored Fast cat logo is placed on the opposite side, worn-out Speedcuts, sleeveless puffer jackets, and tight acetate tracksuits at the ankles, Balenciaga's show for some looks turned into a stroll around the city centre on a Saturday afternoon. Once again, Demna has chosen to play with the contamination between high and low, creating technical tracksuits made of extra-dry fleece with the Balenciaga lion emblem, a reference to authentic soccer warm-up suits. Nylon stocking tracksuits incorporate PUMA archive details from the '90s, while other models recontextualize the brand's iconography in new categories, including a shearling "tracksuit" jacket and a trompe-l'œil suede bathrobe lined with brushed fleece.

And among the Slavic and roadman influences of PUMA, Demna has included the second collaboration of the show, less visible and in your face, with Alpinestar. Already introduced during Summer 24, the motorcycle brand collaborates once again with Balenciaga for a pair of SMX-2 Air Carbon V2 and Morph gloves, characterized by spikes and piercings. In addition, a SuperTech R10 helmet in high-density carbon fiber has also been created. Two collaborations that demonstrate fashion's interest in sports, particularly in its more subcultural and community aspect, capable of intersecting different consumer groups. And it does not deny the humor, the caricature that Demna always brings to the runway, a subtle critique of fashion and its elitist pretensions brought back to earth by an aesthetic often criticized and outraged, yet pure and immovable.