Balenciaga is rebuilding its dominance, one bag at a time

When Balenciaga first launched its Le City bag in 2001, then-creative director Nicolas Ghesquière’s slouchy, hardware-embellished design generated mixed reactions — until it was spotted on the arm of an off-duty Kate Moss.

Twenty-three years later, Moss, along with other global stars, was photographed with the bag once again for the French house’s reintroduction of the quintessential 2000s It bag. For CEO Cédric Charbit and mononymous creative director DemnaReworking the style was a question of when, not if.

“Time was up for the city to come back,” Charbit says. “If you create an icon and you own an icon, it’s something you should treasure. “You can’t imagine how many people I met asked me when the bag would be back.”

While Charbit saw an opportunity to “relaunch the most iconic bag of all,” the timing wasn’t just driven by a healthy appetite for Y2K nostalgia (or in the case of many Gen Zers, nostalgia for a time they never experienced). “Our brand was going through a media scandal,” she recalls, referring to the fallout from a late 2022 advertising campaign that was shelved following an outcry on social media. Until that point, balenciaga had been one of Kering’s fastest growing brands and, although it does not break down figures for individual houses, the fallout contributed to a seven per cent drop in like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter of that year across the group. . The brand went through a period of reflection and then doubled down on the business and its core aesthetic. “We questioned our processes and implemented more controls, but we still believe in our vision,” says Charbit.

You don’t want it for the logo; you want it because it’s evidence of craftsmanship.

The relaunch of Le City is part of a broader strategy that puts Balenciaga bags in the spotlight. The aim is to tempt the house’s biggest consumers, whom Charbit refers to as VIPs and VICs (very important customers), and rebuild demand in key markets like the US, while underlining the house’s codes. “Demna created some solid bestsellers in the past, like Hourglass, Le Cagole, Crush, but it was definitely time to create more,” says Charbit. “Our VIPs and VICs couldn’t find bags even though sales had skyrocketed in ready-to-wear and shoes.”

The strategy appears to be working: In Kering’s 2023 annual report, the group stated that “trends improved significantly” for Balenciaga in North America and Western Europe, while the house “delivered strong performance” in Asia Pacific, where revenue growth was already seen in the first half of the year. According to Lyst, searches for Balenciaga bags increased 10 percent month over month, and searches for Le City increased 104 percent in May alone, contributing to the brand’s biggest month on the platform in two years.

Demna has also launched two other proposals: the rodeowhich made its first appearance at the brand’s Paris show last October, and the Bel Air, which launches this month after being teased. at the autumn-winter 2024 fashion showWhile Le City sells nostalgia, Rodeo, inspired by Beverly Hills, goes for vintage charm reminiscent of the brand’s founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Its aged gold hardware and soft lambskin give the appearance of a long-lasting model.

Meanwhile, the pocket-rich, matte-finished Bel Air plays on one of Demna’s signatures: it’s extremely large. Metal snaps can expand the main compartment, and thanks to its adjustable closures, it can be worn in a variety of ways. “I wanted to create a leather bag that I would want to wear myself,” says Demna. “That would be classic and cool at the same time.”

According to Selfridges accessories buying manager Olivia Rands, the relaunch of Le City is a sign of the times: “It demonstrates an interesting fluidity between old and new – consumers are less interested in novelty and more excited by enduring style meanings.”

The new models are also remarkably logo-free. There was a gap in the market for “iconic, pure luxury bags,” says Charbit. “You don’t want them for the logo or the trend. You want them because they are a sign, a proof of craftsmanship and luxury.”

These words will seem incongruous to some, given Demna’s propensity for the ironic and absurd (Balenciaga’s £2,490 fruit-and-vegetable-print Antwerp grocery bags and huge 10XL trainers are more recent examples). But amid a global slowdown in luxury demand, it’s no surprise that Charbit is investing in timelessness.

The shift toward more understated luxury handbags also coincides with rapidly rising luxury prices. Amid economic and political uncertainty, shoppers are doubling down on accessories worth keeping. This year’s Bain-Altagamma luxury goods study notes “increased demand for ‘basic’ items” and “more exclusive investment pieces” within the leather goods category.

The Rodeo already has a 2,000-person waiting list for small and medium sizes. Luxury sourcing expert Gab Waller says the bag is one of her top 10 most requested bag styles of the year. She has noticed a “huge increase in investment in clothing and shopping,” with customers opting for bags that are a long-term investment. “The Rodeo bag is Balenciaga’s answer to that,” she says.

From Charbit’s perspective, that change has been a long time coming, as evidenced by Le City’s coming-full-circle moment. “My plan has always been to go from over-the-top to timeless,” she says. “When Cristobal created the babydoll dress, it was new and bold, and over time it became timeless. We make something that feels good, something innovative, something that challenges the status quo and beauty norms, and it will become a timeless product.”