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Sinead Butler
Oct 03, 2022
Kanye West walks with Balenciaga's models in mud pit for Paris Fashion …
Balenciaga
Mud and designer clothes are two things that are not typically put together... that is until Balenciaga decided to stage their Paris Fashion Week show in a sludge pit.
In a set that could've been mistaken for a rainy day at Glastonbury Festival, models including the likes of Kanye West (who opened the show on his modelling debut) and Bella Hadid, squelched their way through the heavy mud to display the fashion brand's SS23 collection.
The billionaire artist who legally changed his name to Ye sported an oversized flak jacket, leather trousers, a baseball cap, with a hoodie.
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The unusual setting at Parc des Exposition was "a metaphor for digging for the truth and being down to earth," Denma, Balenciaga’s creative director said ahead of the show.
In a statement alongside the show, he said: "Individualism in fashion is downgraded to pseudo trends dictated by a post in stories of some celebrity of the moment… fashion in its best case scenario should not need a story to be sold to someone… let us let everyone be anyone."
“I’ve decided to no longer explain my collections and verbalise my designs, but to express a state of mind,” Demna added, according to Vogue. “Fashion is a visual art and all we need is for it to be seen through someone’s eyes.”
"You either like it or not.”
British magazine i-D, posted a clip from the show on TikTok where a model can be seen walking the mud runway with her frame leaning forward as she swung both of her arms.
@i_d Somebody think of the shoes! 🫣 #balenciaga #mudpit #pfw #fashionweek #tiktokfashion #fashionforyou #fyp
Since being posted, the video has received a staggering 17.7m views, 1.6m likes and over 25,000 comments from people who commented on the muddied runway and the model's walk.
One person said: "Angry sims walk."
"Looks like how I walk according to my husband," another person wrote.
Someone else added: "They gon have them walkin' in a hurricane next."
"My great grandfather did this in the Army! How cool," a fourth person replied.
No digging for truth was necessary when gauging the reaction online, as the mud-covered runway became quickly became a meme, describing Balenciaga as a "social experiment."
\u201cBalenciaga is a social experiment that has gone for way too long \u201d— kira \ud83d\udc7e (@kira \ud83d\udc7e) 1664733782
\u201cEvery "Great FA Cup Goal" from the 1970s was scored on this pitch.\u201d— Jonny Sharples (@Jonny Sharples) 1664791608
\u201cMe going for a silly little walk for my silly mental health.\u201d— El (@El) 1664786075
\u201cwhat season of america\u2019s next top model is this runway challenge from\u201d— Sarah McGonagall (@Sarah McGonagall) 1664757888
\u201cWhat track and field felt like in PE\u201d— Dredd Dredderson \ud83d\udda4\ud83d\udc18\ud83e\udd0d\ud83d\udc9c (@Dredd Dredderson \ud83d\udda4\ud83d\udc18\ud83e\udd0d\ud83d\udc9c) 1664757256
\u201care you sure this is not from a war scene in game of thrones??\u201d— Ippi (@Ippi) 1664778005
\u201cDystopian wasteland but make it fashion.\u201d— Christina Garnett's chaos magic (@Christina Garnett's chaos magic) 1664765915
\u201cThis is wario stadium from mario kart and I will not hear otherwise\u201d— nic (@nic) 1664749545
Elsewhere, Balenciaga wasn't the only fashion brand to make headlines after aquatic label Botter attached dyed water-filled condoms to the hands of their models.
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