After presenting his most sensual collection last summer, Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna, took a different approach this season, centering the collection around the concept of the "standard." He defined this as an “established quality, style, or expectation within a particular area, which serves as a reference for comparison, imitation, or adherence.” Transforming Paris’ Cours du Dôme des Invalides into a symmetrical maze of multiple entrances and exits, the show featured a diverse cast of commuters, each embodying characters from Demna’s world and reflecting the plethora of styles presented at Balenciaga throughout his tenure.

Walking to the tune of 'Moonlight Sonata', the show opened with a succession of business attire in variations of the standard two-piece suit; some pristine, some crinkled, some distressed and others feminised with maxi skirts replacing trousers. There was a flock of 9-to-5 commuters clad in ultra-light puffer jackets, button-up shirts, cashmere turtlenecks, and chinos. Most models carried overflowing briefcases with convertible top handles. Demna showcased his dressmaking sensibilities in this section, reimagining standard garments with couture precision: a classic white collared shirt was corseted, a navy cardigan was given a toned-down Medici collar and extended to floor lengt, while a blue hoodie echoed Balenciaga’s 1967 wedding dress in its elongated silhouette. 

Then came a more fashion forward bunch, looking like they were still hungover from the night before, sporting distressed muscle tanks paired with blacked out ski goggles shielding them from the morning light, permanently wrinkled jeans and corseted puffer jackets with fur trimmed hoods pulled up to cover their eyes, hinting at a desire for anonymity. Other models masked their party-worn state with makeshift pieces, including sweaters cinched at the waist by a giant safety pin or belt forming mini dresses. Items that looked as if discovered at the lost-and-found, such as polos and button-ups, were also knotted into micro mini skirts.

After the party girls exited, more leisurely flock of youngsters arrived, fitted in pieces from the previously teased Puma x Balenciaga collaboration. Perfectly in tune with modern streetwear, the collaboration included technical sportswear, notably colourful Puma tracksuits, sometimes worn under black sleeveless puffer jackets, and beat up Speedcat sneakers, as seen on Paris streets. While the youth on the streets carelessly layers athleisure, the women in Balenciaga's show embodied a minimalist sensibility, sporting single-garment elegance through swim dresses in water-sport spandex—at times paired with couture-inspired opera coats in faux fur or black nylon puffer.

Across the 80 looks presented, Demna deconstructed and reinterpreted the everyday, challenging the the 'standard' way of dressing. From boardroom staples to commuter essentials and after-hours frocks, he proved that even the most ordinary codes of dress can be reconsidered.