What’s Next for Balenciaga?

Just when we thought the creative director merry-go-round was finally coming to a halt, Balenciaga and Gucci had other ideas.

On March 13, it was announced that Demna, Balenciaga’s commander-in-chief for the past decade, would be leaving his post and taking over the top spot at Gucci. Naturally, social media was shocked. “Is everyone ok?" one user asked, amidst the very mixed comments.

Of course, this isn’t anything new. This year alone we’ve seen Simone Bellotti go to Jil Sander, Matthieu Blazy head to Chanel and the Proenza Schouler boys take over Loewe. But like Blazy at Bottega and Alessandro Michele’s time at Gucci, Demna wasn’t just a designer. His legacy proves he was a harbinger of an entirely new aesthetic — a lifestyle, if you will. Since 2015, he transformed the brand from a theatrical Nicolas Ghesquière epic into a street style mainstay. He became synonymous with the Balenciaga name.

So where does the brand possibly go from here? Well, we have a few ideas. Below, we break down who the next Balenciaga creative director could be, as well as what the future could look like for the label.

First, what does Balenciaga look like right now?

You know that oversized suit you have? Yeah, Demna might have something to do with that. Your newfound affinity for Crocs? Arguably his influence, too. Demna’s Balenciaga era will forever be associated with the rise of streetwear. He made sock boots and Dad sneakers cool. He rejected the skinny aesthetics of the 2010s and introduced oversized everything. He was a key player in fashion’s collab craze, partnering with everyone from Nike to The Simpsons.

Consider him fashion’s chicest comedian. His clothes critique pop culture and provide social commentary, all through a humorous and oftentimes ironic lens. He’s purposely polarizing. He thrives on being contentious and divisive, pushing the envelope — arguably sometimes too far. (Case in point: the brand is still recovering from the 2022 scandal.)

With that being said, at the end of 2024, Balenciaga’s parent company Kering reported some major losses. Gucci, also under the Kering group, was undeniably the loss leader, but revenue dropped eight per cent cumulatively at the company’s other houses including Balenciaga.

Similarly, the cultural cachet Balenciaga could once effortlessly cash in on was starting to wane. In 2022, the French brand was ranked fourth in The Lyst Index, a quarterly ranking of fashion’s hottest brands and products. By the end of 2024, Balenciaga fell to the 15th spot. From a business perspective, it was clear something needed to change.

Where could Balenciaga go in the future?

Every designer debut seemingly has the same criteria: start with a strong concept, introduce a new fashion language and honour the past while looking to the future. If that logic remains true, then without a doubt, the first place the new creative director will look will surely be at the apex of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s legacy: the ‘50s and ‘60s.

During this time, the namesake designer was known for being a disruptor. The most obvious example of this is surely the infamous “sack dress” from 1957, which rejected Christian Dior’s more popular New Look in favour of a shift silhouette. And, to be sure, subversion of the mainstream will always be a founding principle of the brand’s heritage. But, upon deeper inspection, Cristóbal’s deep love of experimental shapes and sculptural forms may prove to be more fertile ground for inspiration.

Think of his innovative balloon hems, with capes and dresses resembling exaggerated number 8s or curvy snowmen—er, women. Or his reinvention of the baby doll dress and its trapeze-like skirt. All of this led to the creation of the “envelope dress”—a dramatically inverted ‘Y’-shaped garment, with four corners at the top and a tiny slit at the bottom that looks as relevant today as it did 65 years ago.

Who could potentially take Balenciaga there?

According to fashion gossip, Pieter Mulier from Alaïa is currently in the running to be Balenciaga’s next creative director. And if the decision is to go in the aforementioned sculptural direction, this makes a lot of sense.

Mulier’s work has become synonymous with blending high-concept artistry with couture craftsmanship. His bold approach focuses on the power of the silhouette and is executed with architectural precision. I could easily see him creating his own version of the envelope dress, with hopefully more modern (and functional!) sensibilities, as the original was so unwearable that one of Balenciaga’s clients ended up returning it as she couldn’t go to the bathroom.

Vogue’s runway reporter extraordinaire, Nicole Phelps, also recently tossed out the name of Nicolas Di Felice. As the current head of Courrèges, he’s become an industry darling for transforming the brand from a relic of the past into a modern-day masterpiece. He also worked for Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière in 2008, a fact that has only fuelled suspicions further.

But, of course, we couldn’t have any designer discourse without TikTok. Many vocal fans have suggested — nay, pleaded — that Kering give Martine Rose the job. The London-based designer has earned a cult following for her edgy, sports-inspired menswear, including the jacket Kendrick Lamar wore at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. More importantly, she was also a key player during Demna’s Balenciaga debut back in 2015, as she was brought in to help design the menswear collection.

Where do we go from here? Here’s what we know for certain: Demna will stage his final couture collection for Balenciaga on July 6. It’s the end of an era, and we’re expecting a finale of epic proportions. Perhaps Kim K walking the finale? A skyscraper sized sock shoe? A set that’s a casino within a mud pit within a snow globe? With Demna, truly anything is possible. With no word at the moment as to who his successor will be, the industry will just have to keep holding its breath. Whomever they may be, the message is clear: they’ve got big shoes — or crocs? — to fill.