“It’s About Power Dressing”: Demna Takes Mel Ottenberg Inside Balenciaga FW25

SUNDAY 4:38 PM MARCH 9, 2025 PARIS

On Sunday afternoon at the Cour du Dôme des Invalides in Paris, black curtains partitioned the sprawling interiors to create a sort of maze, ensuring that every guest at the Balenciaga FW25 show effectively had a front-row seat. And this was the kind of show where you wanted to be up close and personal. “These suits, we made them horny, but it took a while,” creative director Demna told our editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg of the collection, a parade of sexy tailoring and distressed jeans. After the show, we caught up with Nadia Lee Cohen, Loic Prigent, and Anora star Mark Eydelshteyn to process it all.

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MEL OTTENBERG: Hey, Demna. I came here to shop. Whatever happened to shopping at the fashion show? I mean, really shopping seriously.

DEMNA: Ah, voila!

OTTENBERG: I’ve had a Balenciaga coat for three years and now everyone’s copied that Balenciaga coat. It’s from the Wall Street show, you know that coat I wear? Now Everybody in New York is wearing a copied version.

DEMNA: Oh, yeah, yeah. It takes two-and-a-half years, they say…

OTTENBERG: Well, now you have all these new things and I still think it’s fun to go shopping at a fashion show.

DEMNA: That is the only reason to do this now. I mean, otherwise, what? I need that and I want to give it to people who also need it like me.

OTTENBERG: The suits are really horny.

DEMNA: These suits, we made them horny, but it took a while. It’s not easy.

OTTENBERG: No, I know. You probably went through layers of suiting ideas.

DEMNA: It’s all about proportions. It’s like a sculpture so you don’t look like a dork, you look cool, you know, you look hot. You don’t look like you’re going to a fucking job interview.

OTTENBERG: Yeah. Or old.

DEMNA: It’s about power dressing, too. I think that’s what’s hot.

OTTENBERG: He’s an executive.

DEMNA: Oh, yeah.

OTTENBERG: Good to see you.

DEMNA: You too.

MEL OTTENBERG: What do you have to say for yourself, Nadia Lee Cohen?

NADIA LEE COHEN: Just thank you, Demna. And thank you, Mel, for bringing the eye contact that I needed.

OTTENBERG: Of course.

COHEN: It made me walk in a straight line.

OTTENBERG: What do you think Gary’s reference was for your glamour today?

COHEN: What’s his name, from The Cure?

OTTENBERG: Robert Smith.

COHEN: It’s Robert Smith.

OTTENBERG: Oh, fab.

COHEN: She’s Robert Smith in her auntie’s sequined gown.

OTTENBERG: Cross-dressing Robert Smith.

COHEN: Yeah.

OTTENBERG: Fabulous. Hey, Loic Prigent. Don’t you think we have to protect Demna at all costs?

LOIC PRIGENT: We should protect Demna.

OTTENBERG: Why?

PRIGENT: Because he’s seeing stuff we are not seeing. He has an urgency we’re not feeling yet, but we will shortly, or at some point. And he has the urgency in this vision and that needs to be protected.

OTTENBERG: Gary, what’s the vibe?

GARY GILL: As always with Demna, it’s very individual. We test every single person and see what they’re wearing so we get the essence of the character, but we can change it in minutes sometimes. We do spend a lot of time talking before, going through references, compiling them. But generally, I suppose it’s got an alternative feel. It’s got that kind of off-ness, that stuff that hasn’t been seen before, a dirtiness, a bit of griminess, but also with a little bit of a chic element, too.

OTTENBERG: Thank you. Great to see you again.

GILL: You too.

OTTENBERG: Hey, Mark. What did you think of the Balenciaga show?

MARK EYDELSHTEYN: I want to say that it’s my first fashion show ever in life. And the impression is, like—can I say, like breathless? And music is very aggressive and intense. I don’t know, I have too much inside me and I don’t know how to express it.

OTTENBERG: Any favorite outfits? Favorite memories?

EYDELSHTEYN: I really like, of course, Nadia Lee Cohen’s outfit, for sure. First place. And second place, this guy in a sporty jacket. Can I say Puma, I think?

OTTENBERG: Yeah, Puma. Great review. Thank you, Mark.

EYDELSHTEYN: Thank you.