The Evolution - Balenciaga’s Growth, Strategies and Success

Balenciaga has faced a number of changes throughout its history, from the changes in consumer preferences and markets that Cristóbal Balenciaga was up against leading up to his retirement; through to the brand’s adaptation to COVID-19. One consistent and inevitable change that this luxury power house has experienced is the transition between creative directors. It is important that this transition is seamless and successful due to the vital importance of this role to establish and implement the vision for the brand. This vision will not only need to be seen through the creation of the designs, but also through the brand’s mission, values and campaigns. These creative elements are all in the creative director’s hands to construct (Rhodes, 2021).

For Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière has taken on the brand’s creative direction for the longest duration since Cristóbal Balenciaga. Ghesquière during his 15 years at Balenciaga, was able to transform the brand into ‘one of the most influential French brands’ (Socha, Conti and Diderich, 2012). It can be argued that this was due to his ability to fuse his interest in the eighties and futurism, to create ‘ultimate, elusive must-haves’ (Yotka, 2019). These creations included the iconic Lariat bag, metal cut out biker boots and transformer leggings. However, Nicolas Ghesquière ensured that alongside these innovative pieces he was creating, he was also sourcing inspiration from Cristóbal Balenciaga’s key designs. With this balance between his creative decisions, Nicolas Ghesquière was able to take ‘an old brand and maintain the house’s heritage while propelling its futuristic look’ (Gledhill, 2012).

NICHOLAS GHESQUIÈRE'S BALENCIAGA

Current Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia, has been in the position since 2015. Gvasalia, within the creation of his own iconic designs, has built on this futuristic aesthetic that Ghesquière established. However, Demna has also managed to flourish within the collaborations and celebrity endorsements the brand has pursued. These collaborations included the ‘Hacker Project’ in 2021 which was a collection of Balenciaga x Gucci products. As well as this, Gvasalia has used celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Alexa Demie to feature in his collections and marketing campaigns.

DEMNA'S BALENCIAGA

The impact of these brand communication strategies, and the creative decisions made within them, includes the potential growth of consumers for Balenciaga. This is because, individuals who interact with the brands or celebrities Balenciaga are working with, may be exposed to Balenciaga for the first time and thus may be drawn to their new collections. As a result, this may introduce new consumers for Balenciaga. This potential has been made a reality with latest statistics highlighting that in 2021, Balenciaga achieved a 44% growth in turnover between 2020-2021 (Guyot, 2022). This may be due to the growing consumer base at Balenciaga, owing to the effects of consistent successful creative decision making made under Demna.

Thus, the changes that Balenciaga have confronted over its history, despite their consistency and their importance of successful adaptation, have meant positive growth for the brand. For instance the transition between creative directors, has meant that both Nicolas Ghesquière and Demna Gvasalia were able to build their own unique foundations in Balenciaga that are responsible for the sustained luxury, avant garde image of Balenciaga and success that the brand is renowned for.

BALENCIAGA BRAND RESONANCE BOARD - EFFECTS OF BALENCIAGA'S BRAND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES ON CONSUMERS PERCEPTION OF THE BRAND