Review of Balenciaga ‘Le City Paparazzi’ 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Demna with models Paris Hilton, Alek Wek, Alessandra Ambrosio, Amber Valletta, Claudia Schiffer, Malgosia Bela, Natasha Poly, and Tyra Banks
That’s hot: Balenciaga takes us back to the era of Y2K fashion paparazzi with a brilliant new digital campaign for its Le City bag.
The campaign curates a selection of paparazzi images of some of the century’s foremost fashion icons: Tyra Banks, Claudia Schiffer, Alek Wek, Alessandra Ambrosio, Amber Valletta, Malgosia Bela, Natasha Poly, and the ultimate early-2000s icon Paris Hilton. But these nostalgic snapshots have been digitally altered so that each star carries today’s Le City Bag, blurring the lines of history and influence and emphasizing the character of the bag as both retro and timeless. The paparazzi pics are then cleverly finished off with a Balenciaga watermark that apes the familiar Getty Images watermark.
While it may use images from the earlier days of the internet, the campaign is an excellent example of smart thinking for the age of digital marketing. Digitally executed from start to finish, this is an easily, affordably doable campaign that still makes a major impact through its thoughtful approach to “casting” and reflection on the enduring status of cultural icons. Balenciaga continues to show some of the smartest thinking in transforming easy layup imagery into impactful digital narratives, and this throwback campaign is one of the most fun examples yet.
Balenciaga Creative Director | Demna
Models | Paris Hilton, Alek Wek, Alessandra Ambrosio, Amber Valletta, Claudia Schiffer, Malgosia Bela, Natasha Poly, and Tyra Banks