Balenciaga and Juergen Teller: Urban Landscapes as Art in “This is a Balenciaga Campaign”

Balenciaga’s new campaign unfolds against the vibrant tapestry of Paris, where bustling streets and hidden alleys serve as both inspiration and backdrop. Far from a standard fashion shoot, this project introduces a dynamic encounter between iconic figures including Olympic pistol shooter Kim Ye-Ji, athlete and model Romeo Beckham, singer Kim Petras, and others alongside an eclectic selection of vintage furniture drawn from Demna’s personal collection.One of the campaign’s most compelling features is its treatment of vintage chairs, sofas, and tables as sculptural objects that punctuate the cityscape. Paris is recast as a vast gallery, where each street corner and weathered wall becomes a stage. This highlights the potential for rediscovery and reinterpretation in everyday environments, transforming overlooked objects into elements of art.

This approach resonates with contemporary art’s core idea: rethinking the ordinary as worthy of deeper focus. The interplay between heritage furnishings and urban textures invites a second look, revealing how the simplest details cracks in the pavement, faded paint on a façade can tell meaningful stories. At the heart of this project is photographer Juergen Teller, whose raw, unfiltered aesthetic rejects excessive retouching. Balenciaga’s items like the Monday Sneaker and the Holdall Bowling Bag are presented as contemporary art pieces, blending seamlessly into the rough textures and storied corners of the city.

Rather than polished frames, the campaign creates site-specific artworks, blending couture silhouettes with lived-in urban spaces. This juxtaposition underscores questions of authenticity and consumption, merging editorial fashion with urban installations.A video by Juergen Teller and Dovile Drizyte accompanies the photographs, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their creative process. The dialogue focuses on spontaneity and experimentation, transforming the video into an extension of the installation. By sharing reflections on composition and everyday objects, it blurs the line between the polished result and the organic process behind it.This campaign reexamines our relationship with urban environments and the overlooked ephemera within them. By placing vintage furniture amidst the city’s vibrancy, it suggests that luxury can exist in the unexpected. The imperfect backdrops invite us to redefine style, refinement, and sustainability.

Balenciaga’s avant-garde spirit aligns with a broader conversation about ethical values and the life cycle of objects, posing the idea that discarded items might carry new aesthetic and cultural significance.