Demna dials down theatrics for a more saleable vision of Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week

Balenciaga is no stranger to spectacle, but this season, Demna played a different game—one of precision, control, and quiet defiance. His fall collection at Paris Fashion Week, “Standard,” stripped away the excess, examining the essence of familiar dress codes with subtle distortions. But was this a masterstroke of restraint, or just a retreat into the ordinary?The black-curtained labyrinth at the Cour du Dôme des Invalides felt like stepping into Balenciaga’s backstage, where garments twisted in and out of the ordinary. The models stormed through the narrow pathways, inches from VIP guests Tyra Banks, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Jessica Alba, their stiletto-heeled stomp set to the brooding strains of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.