When Balenciaga meets Apple: a dive into 4K Haute Couture

After its last appearance on the Paris runways last June with the Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2024-2025 collection, Balenciaga returns today with an unexpected collaboration. No new muse or partnership with other fashion houses is on the agenda. Indeed, it is a collaboration with Apple that Balenciaga presents today. but no misconceptions; the brand has not planned to (re)release a collection with fabrics decorated with the iconic apple or a line of turtlenecks in honor of Steve Jobs .In the past, a sweatshirt emblazoned with the Apple logo and the words “Be different” had sparked rumors of a clothing collaboration with the phone brand. But it's a technological collaboration that the two brands are now bringing to market. In fact, Balenciaga is launching its spatial computing app for Apple Vision Pro, the latest mixed reality headset launched by the Californian brand. You will be able to relive the Spring 2025 fashion show, presented in Shanghai last May, in an immersive way with the possibility of changing the background scenario. The images have 4K resolution thanks to drones and stereoscopic sequences, thus offering an unprecedented image quality. Music and exclusive playlists signed by Balenciaga Music will also be available on the app, to be listened to while virtually flipping through the carousel of images serving as a lookbook.

Balenciaga is the latest Maison to offer such a technological experience. Renowned for its ability to innovate and its taste for experimentation, the brand is not new to connected fashion. After the digital passport for clothing, the brand offered a whole collection of sweatshirts and hoodies with an electronic chip last November, allowing the wearer to listen to a selection of Demna's favorite songs. The brand did not hesitate either to organize a virtual fashion show in 2020 during the pandemic. However, it is not the first one to offer a virtual reality project. Gucci, which shares its parent company with Balenciaga, already offered a mixed reality experience via Apple Vision Pro in April 2024. It allowed users to access an immersive and interactive version of the short film/documentary Who is Sabato de Sarno? A Gucci Story, sharing exclusive images of the Gucci Ancora show, the first of the new creative director of the double G brand.

But it is Balenciaga that the Silicon Valley brand has chosen to honor the launch of the Vision Pro headset in France, which is available from today in Apple Stores or on the official Apple website. Its launch in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada is also planned for this summer. Its price (starting at €3999) is far from negligible but should fit perfectly into the budget of luxury fashion enthusiasts who do not hesitate to spend astronomical sums on logo-decorated products. A marketing strategy that raises the expectations of the California brand, given the mixed reception the item has received so far. In fact, Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst, announced that the brand was forced to reduce the production of the headset due to low demand. But there is no doubt that the commercialization of the product in other countries and the collaboration with Balenciaga will allow the item to reach a wider audience. Although for now, only a two-dimensional vision of the Fall 2025 show and the lookbook are available, it is expected that the project will develop exponentially and proportionally to technological advances, allowing the addition of three-dimensional images as well as the possibility of acquiring ready-to-wear pieces signed by Demna. It's only getting started.