Balenciaga turns common daily activities into a canvas for individual artisanal expression. Creative Director Demna Gvasalia and artist/photographer Jean-Pierre Attal’s work in Balenciaga’s fall 2019 ad campaign transforms individual’s daily work commute into their own everyday performance. Capitalizing on detail, Gvasalia and Attal showcase the mundane walk through the city to emphasize one’s own walk of style.
With Attal’s previous work capturing the essence of urban life, his artistic development in the ad campaign film fits perfectly to the spotlight of suits and prominent work fittings. Jean-Pierre Attal previously released a similar work conveying the solitary act of commuting that masses of people do together everyday in 2012. His and Gvasalia’s work today in the Balenciaga fall ad campaign proves the swagger of walking with one’s own purpose while dressing with magnitude can turn the city’s sidewalks and subways into an artisanal experience.
With no interaction between models in the fall ad campaign, each walk is solely based on the individual’s intention. For such a multitude of people performing the same act, the immensity of self-isolation is a striking juxtaposition. Each cross-over, passerby, and new individual that comes across is insignificant to each person’s own journey, despite the similarities shared. Occasionally, there glimpses harsh isolation of the entire surrounding world by the accessory of technology, shutting out even the sensory of sound for the individual. The eviction of other senses and attentions calls to focus the detail of the products and sells the possibility of uniqueness in a crowd of personas.
This particular campaign transforms a common daily operation into a chic production. Demna Gvasalia, Jean-pierre Attal, and the Balenciaga team’s fall 2019 ad campaign urges the everyday urbanite to walk out the door and perform in city life.
Balenciaga Creative Director | Demna Gvasalia
Photographer | Jean-Pierre Attal
Models | Lei Qin, Samuel Wilken, Takato Harashima, Une Jonynaite
Stylist | Lotta Volkova
Hair | Holli Smith
Makeup | Inge Grognard
Manicurist | Fanny Santarita