It’s Balenciaga, bitch: Demna bids farewell with a Britney Spears collab

If the last few months have proved anything, it’s that Demna clearly isn’t a proponent of the Irish exit. Since his shock defection from Balenciaga in March, the Georgian designer has unveiled Rachel Sennott as the new face of the brand, teamed up with Lamborghini for a new capsule collection, dressed about every single star who attended Cannes Film Festival, and even had time to moonlight at Gucci for his (allegedly) ghost-designed Cruise collection. And – despite that packed schedule – Demna is far from done.

Ahead of his final couture catwalk in Paris on July 9, the designer has just dropped his last ready-to-wear collection for the house, an offering called Exactitudes released in typical Demna fashion (on the IG grid). “This collection embodies the multitude of design codes that have been part of my creative vision and research on fashion at Balenciaga for a decade,” said the designer in a statement. “It combines pieces from 35 different collections with new pieces and garments from my personal wardrobe, representing the volumes, silhouettes, and attitudes that have defined my vision and my questioning of the contemporary wardrobe.”

The name of the collection, Exactitudes, is taken from a photography series of the same name by Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek which interrogates codes of conformity and divergence in social groups. “My work at Balenciaga and in general has often circled around the anthropology of fashion and dress codes,” said Demna, “so this is why I decided to create the imagery of this collection with Versluis and Uyttenbroek.”

Alongside the Spring 26 collection, the house has also launched the next edition of its Balenciaga Music series, and this time it’s with none other than Ms Britney Jean Spears. “I have always loved fashion and was so honoured and excited Balenciaga and Demna chose to collaborate with me on Demna’s last collection with the house,” Spears said in a statement. “These are some of my favourite images from such an amazing time in my career and life, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone.”

The new collab comprises t-shirts and hoodies featuring archival imagery from US photographer Steven Klein and Dazed founder Rankin, plus the Britney4ever EP by BFRND, which celebrates the official release of BFRND’S “Gimme More” remix (the very memorable soundtrack from Balenciaga’s lingerie-filled SS25 catwalk) plus a new remix of “Oops!… I Did It Again.” And if that wasn’t enough, Spears has also put together a specially curated playlist of her favourite songs featuring the likes of Janet Jackson, Madonna, Charli xcx and Addison Rae.

Listen to Britney’s entire Balenciaga playlist below, and check out the Spring 26 collection above.