AW21 Balenciaga Fair Isle Destroyed Knitted UN Logo Sweater

In the heat of a global pandemic, Balenciaga’s creative director, Demna Gvasilia, was forced to pivot. Organizing a team of digital engineers including the developers of Fortnite, ‘Unreal Engine’, Balenciaga worked to create their very own augmented experience. Titled ‘Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow’, a video game was released on all platforms as a free-to-play runway substitute. Scanning each model in real time, silhouettes were 1:1 with on-screen characters sporting Balenciaga’s Autumn 2021 collection. Beginning in a namesake store, players were guided through a futuristic journey, exploring a dystopian future rich with sub-culture and hyper modernism. Based in 2031, users were led through a cityscape, underground rave, and finally to a mountainous peak, where we’re reminded that even in the heat of a global atrocity, to keep a level head, and “reconnect with nature”. After 9 months of production, the maison unveiled fashion’s first interactive experience on December 7th, to much praise.

 

Uniform with the collection’s war-torn aesthetic, this thrashed sweater highlights one’s loyalty towards their external appearance. “People will keep wearing clothes they love until they fall apart.” Gvasilia stated after the show, “So things look quite destroyed, worn in, pre-crinkled.” he continues. Distressing the sweater’s outer layer, a thick base backs the fair isle patterning that encompasses each panel, threads hanging from the bottom hem and sleeves. Distorting the United Nation’s logo, Gvasilia replaces the map with BB lettering, finalized with an embroidered olive tree and crown. In new with tags condition, fitting wildly oversized at a medium.