Review of Balanciaga Summer 2025 Ad Campaign by Photographer Nadia Lee Cohen with models Kyle MacLachlan, Linda Honeyman, Sunnyi Melles, Mark Eydelshteyn, Rachel Sennott, Zhou You, Georgia Ford, Coumba Samba, Sun, Raiki, Queen, and Leona
Balenciaga explores identity and narrative and sends a fittingly stylish ode to the Demna era with its new Summer 2025 campaign. The campaign was shot and directed by Nadia Lee Cohen.
The imagery riffs on the process of classic Hollywood costume tests, pointing to the intersection of clothing, narrative, and identity. Leaning into this theme, the cast features an impressive and eclectic lineup of actors – Kyle MacLachlan, Linda Honeyman, Sunnyi Melles, Mark Eydelshteyn, Rachel Sennott, Zhou You, and Georgia Ford – alongside artist Coumba Samba and a group of returning Balenciaga models.
Cohen’s visual approach that is informed by cinematic nostalgia perfectly lens itself to the austere yet playful portraits captured in a monochrome ivory space. From vintage couture-inspired dresses to oversized riffs on contemporary sportswear and denim, the entire range of Demna’s iconic vision for the house is put to use in bringing this ensemble of idiosyncratic archetypes to life. A few carefully placed, disparate elements of set design, such as an ornate harp, a slick set of studio speakers, a vintage rotary phone, and several chairs that exemplify different style eras, further point to the palpable yet abstract sense of narrative – a film that doesn’t exist, or at least that we will never see.
This may be one of the last campaigns of the Demna era at Balenciaga before he heads to Gucci, and it feels like a fitting and final ode to his time at the house. Not only does it encompass his many distinct points of sartorial inspiration, but it also captures his signature spirit of defiant glamor and elusive individuality – and does so with a cast that truly embodies the brand’s cultural clout.
Photographer | Nadia Lee Cohen
Models | Kyle MacLachlan, Linda Honeyman, Sunnyi Melles, Mark Eydelshteyn, Rachel Sennott, Zhou You, Georgia Ford, Coumba Samba, Sun, Raiki, Queen, and Leona