Balenciaga tapped into 2000s nostalgia for its latest Le City campaign. The brand reimagined paparazzi photos from the Y2K era, digitally inserting its revived version of the slouchy silhouette.
In line with Balenciaga’s tongue-in-cheek aesthetic, photos of Paris Hilton and supermodels Amber Valletta, Alek Wek, Claudia Schiffer, Alessandra Ambrosio, Tyra Banks, Malgosia Bela and Natasha Poly feature stock photo-inspired watermarks.
First released as the Motorcycle or Lariat in 2001, Balenciaga played on the success of the City bag in later collections, including the Le Cagole and Neo Classic lines, but the house officially revived the design in April 2024 with a campaign starring none other than Kate Moss — one of the bag’s original celebrity carriers.
Renamed Le City, Balenciaga said it “studied and remodeled” numerous archival bags, maintaining its 25-panel construction and defining features such as its metal corner buckles, while improving upon it “in terms of sustainable production.”
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Alek Wek in Balenciaga’s Le City paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Alessandra Ambrosio in Balenciaga’s Le City Paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Amber Valletta in Balenciaga’s Le City Paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Claudia Schiffer in Balenciaga’s Le City Paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Malgosia Bela in Balenciaga’s Le City Paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Natasha Poly in Balenciaga’s Le City paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Paris Hilton in Balenciaga’s Le City paparazzi campaign.
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Balenciaga City Bag Paparazzi Campaign
Image Credit: Balenciaga Tyra Banks in Balenciaga’s Le City paparazzi campaign.