SHOWnews: Balenciaga And Britney, Kate Moss And Lila

It’s Balenciaga B*tch!

As Demna’s July couture presentation (his Balenciaga blackout) veers closer, the outgoing creative director released a farewell prequel this week for Spring 26, titled Exactitudes. In that spirit here is the collection’s mission statement, exactly as Demna intended:

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. 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, what people actually wear, how they wear it, and what the fine line is between luxury and fashion.

Moving on to the next chapter, this is my tribute to the creative research and work that me and my teams have done for the past 10 years. It is also my love letter to the most loyal and fashion forward audience that we have built around the house and connected with in this creative process.

• Demna, creative director Balenciaga

There you have it. No need to ramble too much over Demna’s observations on clothing and society semiotics. He has exacted (again, his words) those pieces, sometimes in slight repetition for different meanings over one decade. At best, we’ve devoured his macro-minded propositions at macro-silhouette levels. At worst, he greenlit a touchy holiday campaign, maybe enlisted too many Kardashians. On the whole, Demna revitalised Balenciaga’s cult electricity by conducting shows that contemplated shape (returning the C-curve to relevance), shopping (Barneys! Charivari! Just make it 2019!) and the rapture (hell and damnation, not Siouxsie And The Banshees’ album). When you think about it, Demna reattached the power of ‘Cristobal’ to Balenciaga.

Balenciaga by Demna is also known for percussive soundtracks. Whether 8-bit Giorgio Moroder; the electro facile distorsions of Los Angeles; or subliminal as a tickle in dreams, Balenciaga’s composer BFRND routinely synthesised sound to match Demna’s vision. BFRND and Demna continue to sandwich clothes with compositions, featuring Britney Spears as the final artist to curate their Balenciaga playlist series. Spears re-presents music that made her pop royalty. It is quite literally her against the music (yep that song made the cut). BFRND’s Britney4ever EP features remixes of ‘Ooops I Did It Again’ and ‘Gimmie More.’ There is also a Britney merch rollout...this is Balenciaga by Demna, so obviously.

‘I have always loved fashion and was so honored and excited Balenciaga and Demna chose to collaborate with me on Demna’s last collection with the House. I hope my fans love it as much as I do! These are some of my favorite images from such an amazing time in my career and life, and I’m so excited to share it with everyone.’

• Britney Spears

Stop rolling those eyes. Get into the merch and the music to dance with Demna one last time.

Kate Moss, Bobby Gillespie And Their Kids At Zara

Kate Moss’ first Zara collection was apparently so successful a second will arrive on 9 June.

Kate Moss is both apparition and architect of her Zara capsules that facilitate her thrifted tastes into mass consumables. Her long-time collaborator, the stylist Katy England, helps corral Moss's mutable wardrobe into freshly familiar styles that clout-thirsty audiences might find hip. An unexpected entrant into the Zara festivities is Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, a man whose closet I’ve forever personally longed to ‘shop.’ Gillespie oversaw Moss’ debut menswear capsule.

‘It was such an evolved process this time. Because it’s Spring/Summer and festival season, I expected it to be more about wafty dresses. But it’s a bit tougher than that. That’s because all the masculine energy was coming in from Bobby doing his collection at the same time. You could feel it coming over and we ended up going somewhere quite unexpected that I didn’t think we would.’

• Kate Moss

Katy England (wife of Bobby) styled the mens’ side too. The trio constructs an atmosphere of festival-driven clothes (xx) with a sharp tailoring leather detour (xy) and bohemian bell sleeves. This séance between friends and progeny — their children Lila Moss and Lux Gillespie feature in the lookbook — help garments retain an essence of movement essential for musicality. Available soon in over 120 Zara stores worldwide, you too can amplify your Fender with leather this summer.

‘These are things you can’t get anywhere else. Getting great tailoring like this that is accessible is important. Everyone deserves good clothes.’

• Bobby Gillespie

Isabel Marant And Converse Revise The Chuck

Converse and Isabel Marant resume their conversation around casual clothing, styled with precision. The ubiquitous Converse Chuck Taylor is put through Marant’s borrowed-from-the-boyfriend approach. Which means you get the bandana — worn by the biker boy but nicked by his girl who wears his things better anyways — printed across trainers. Bandana patterning across those high and low Chuck 70s (plus a sneaker wedge worn by Lila Moss) imprints in translucent black, white, ecru and red. Red is the colour favoured by Isabel Marant’s mum. Much like her own mum often has, Lila Moss serves as proxy for Marant’s quasi-Paisian, possibly Angelenos energy for Converse in the city.

Effortless yet calculated, the Chuck 70 is worn with dual intentions. City sounds converge as Moss (and friend) stride in atmospheric awareness, empowered with Converse and Isabel Marant’s intrinsic authenticity.

20 Karat Gold Acne Paper

Acne Paper's twentieth-anniversary issue, Golden, celebrates its own legacy by suggesting valuable metal, gold. Acne Paper, issue twenty, self-anoints its worthy weight via sprawling fashion editorials gilded across magazine spines, magazine theme and editorial results. Actress Raya Martigny is the cover star, shot by Szilveszter Makó, presented as a modern era Nusch Eluard by Man Ray.

Elsewhere inside the issue, Acne Paper’s golden remit threads throughout a series of portfolios and essays. Sarah Moon’s haunting visuals, Paul Kooiker’s reliably idiosyncratic lens and lush Rafael Pavarotti visuals are a ductile manifesto of transformative power. Four years after returning to newsstands, Acne Paper reflects on twenty years of malleable humanity, imminently available this week,specifically 4 June.

Tommy Hilfiger Races To The Cinema

Tommy Hilfiger’s new APXGP Collection stages a high-octane return to the roots of sport and style via the adrenaline-fueled Formula 1™. Released a few weeks ahead of the global premiere of F1 The Movie, the collection waves a checkered flag for modern motorcore enthusiasts. Tommy Hilfiger brand ambassador Damson Idris (the Met gala stunt) embodies the campaign plus stars in the movie (alongside Brad Pitt). Idris promotes a Tommy Hilfiger collection styled for screen and speed. The red quilted liner jacket cuts precisely to silhouettes in F1 The Movie, promoting aerodynamic poise throughout life’s marathon. Additionally, racing varsity jackets and trademark Tommy Hilfiger graphic polos — imprinted with APXGP insignias pay homage to the Hilfiger archive through the discipline of race-day concentration.

‘Working with the Tommy Hilfiger team and on F1 The Movie has been an unforgettable ride — an authentic blend of iconic style and cinematic power. Tommy’s vision has always been about pushing culture forward, and that energy runs through every part of this partnership. From The APXGP Collection and everything we’ve done to bring the film to life for audiences, it all channels that same fearless spirit — capturing the grit to succeed on the track and the confidence to own every moment of it.’

• Damson Idris

Tommy Hilfiger’s longstanding love for Formula 1™ resurfaces in tailoring, accented with motion. When Idris hit the Met Gala blue carpet in a full APXGP x Swarovski fit, the summer conversation started. As momentum builds towards F1 The Movie’s 25 June international release date, the Tommy Hilfiger APXGP Collection narrates beside the blockbuster. Clothes a hybridise precision and persona for a wardrobe capsule fuel injected for living life at full throttle.

Ferragamo. Take Two.

Ferragamo’s Pre-Fall 2025 collection revisits its own house origins. The house looks back to the glamour of old Hollywood to reveal the craftsmanship behind Ferragamo’s mythos. Filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher laces the collection with cinematic charm over three chapters, each to be released throughout the season. Reframing the product in nostalgic Cinecittà turns Ferragamo shoes, bags and sunglasses into elegant, lively protagonists.

‘When you look into the archive, the pumps are some of the most iconic Ferragamo creations. And so, we wanted to present them as part of the making of the movie star: a playful, almost ironic way of presenting elegance.’

• Maximilian Davis, creative director, Ferragamo

In L’Appuntamento, model Angelina Kendall is shot in the ritual of dressing. Her Gancini slingbacks anchor the character. In L’Avventura high summer features film heavy hitters like cork and raffia sandals, plus men's slip-on mules. Perhaps those mules are the vulgar antagonist.

‘Salvatore’s ideas of using the materials around you to innovate is so interesting to me. This scene is all about innovation and craft and so using that to create the very setting of the scene felt perfect.’

• Maximilian Davis, creative director, Ferragamo

By Chapter 3, Doppio Sogno, the narrative moves: Kendall and her mirrored twin bike across a Tuscan countryside, autumn blooming as sensual leather, printed croc and knit bouclé enter the material picture. In Rohrwacher’s hands, Ferragamo revisits its Hollywood chapter where legends are textured Italian objects, the headliners to outfit the Ferragamo woman in her life’s spotlight.