From the prize public-schooled ham that is Boris Johnson lording it over the UK, to his vibrantly hued American counterpart Donald Trump and his increasingly questionable policies – without meaning to state the obvious, international politics are a bit of a fucking mess right now.
But where others may despair of the current political climate (hi!), Demna Gvasalia is using it as a source of inspiration, channelling the ongoing turmoil into his creative output at Balenciaga.
With the label’s SS20 show taking place in an EU blue-hued conference room, in which guests were blasted with cold air and a relentless industrial soundtrack to maximise discomfort, this season’s accompanying images, heavy on the satire, see Laurence Chaperon – a photographer renowned for lensing political campaigns – capture a series of Balenciaga models in the role of political candidates, with the images bearing the kind of vapid, meaningless statements we’ve come to expect from IRL politicians around the world (“We vote for tomorrow” declares one, “Love is for everyone” another).
Now, over on the burning hellscape that is Twitter, an extension of the campaign in the form of a live evening news broadcast just landed. Featuring a cast of digitally manipulated, almost deep fake-esque models – dressed head-to-toe in a series of Balenciaga’s more corporate lewks – the programme’s anchors take viewers through some pretty bizarre and slightly disturbing headlines: with planets realigning, the end of traffic jams, where exactly the water is going, and the beginning of a fictional political campaign among the topics of conversation.
Notably, all of the brand’s earlier Tweets have disappeared into the ether of cyberspace, in much the same way that those detailing the misdemeanours and missteps of real life politicians might well do shortly before campaign trails begin (or, you know, when they’re trying to convince you they never splashed £350m across the side of a bus).
Directed by Will Benedict with a screeching, ominous, plane crash-punctuated soundtrack courtesy of noise musician Wolf Eyes, the whole thing gives off some heavy Children of Men vibes – making it the perfect campaign for our bleak, troubled, terrifying times.
Head here to tune in.
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