Look of the Week: Kim Kardashian steps into Balenciaga ambassadorship in ‘pantaleggings’
(CNN) — Get ready for another parade of Kim Kardashian in black spandex ensembles. Less than 24 hours after Balenciaga announced the Skims founder had officially joined the luxury house as a brand ambassador, Kardashian appeared in her first campaign in her new role to herald the return of the label’s Le City oversized leather bag, which became a mainstay in the 2000s thanks to supermodel Kate Moss.
Over the past few years, Kardashian has played muse to the brand’s most recent creative director, Demna Gvasalia, in everything from mobility-limiting yellow caution tape to spectral head-to-toe black fabric. But for her first official official outing as ambassador, her simple silhouette is classic Kimenciaga: a seamless tube top-pantaleggings ensemble that fits neatly with her own shapewear empire’s aesthetic.
Photographed by Inez and Vinoodh, the “Closet Campaign” features a roster of celebrities, including actor and socialite Nicola Peltz — who wears a Regina George-worthy pink tracksuit — and model Paloma Elsesser, holding the new Le City silhouettes and other signature Balenciaga bags in pristine luxury closets. (Kardashian is photographed in her own enormous handbag closet, along with her own collection of nearly 130 Balenciaga bags.)
The “Closet Campaign” feels like a soft launch rather than a big splash for the new partnership, but is still stirring buzz. After several appearances for the brand, including walking the runway in its 51st Haute Couture show in 2022, Kardashian took a step back from Balenciaga later that year after a holiday campaign ignited controversy.
The fashion house’s “Toy Stories” campaign featured young children with various Balenciaga gifts, including plush bags designed as teddy bears in goth outfits and BDSM-inspired accessories. After the brand and its creative collaborators were accused of sexualizing children — and a separate campaign went viral for featuring documents from a United States Supreme Court case relating to child pornography laws on a desk in an otherwise generic office scene — Balenciaga pulled the campaign and issued an apology for including the teddy bear bags. (They also filed, then dropped a lawsuit against the production company involved in the shoot that included the court case documents.)
Days later, Kardashian called the images “disturbing” on social media and said she was “re-evaluating” her relationship with the house.
But in December, just over a year after the backlash, Kardashian signaled that she was back in the fold, appearing front row at its Los Angeles runway show — closed by Cardi B — along with her half-sister Kendall Jenner.
On Monday, as part of her ambassador announcement, Kardashian said in a press statement that the fashion house “embraces modernity, craftsmanship and takes an innovative approach to design under Demna.”
She added: “For me, this long-standing relationship is built on mutual trust and a commitment to doing what’s right.”
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