Balenciaga, with Demna Gvasalia at the helm, is merging with technology at a breakneck pace. He recently collaborated with Fortnite, a video game that has been described by foreign media as a precursor to the metaverse, to design costumes for characters in the game. In addition, shortly after Facebook announced that it was transitioning to the Metacomes and would be called Meta, a tweet appeared on the official Twitter feed: “Hey @Balenciaga, what’s the dress code in the metacomes?” It wouldn’t be surprising if Meta actually invited Balenciaga to collaborate on a series of co-titled metaverse curations in the future.

In Balenciaga’s latest Spring 22 campaign, photographer Andrea Artemisio sees new readymade garments, jewelry, bags and shoes draped in mechanical masks created by Japanese artist Ikeuchi Hiroto. In one scene, a model wears an exoskeleton suit co-designed by Ikeuchi and robot manufacturer Skeletonics for one of the looks of the Spring Series 22. The suit will be displayed at Balenciaga’s reopened Aoyama flagship store in Tokyo, while the rest of the collection will be displayed at other outlets in Japan and Montaigne in Paris.

The curation highlights looks that debuted at this season’s virtual fashion show, including pieces from The Hacker Project, which recreated Gucci’s iconic elements in Balenciaga’s collection.

Balenciaga Crocs 2.0, a new collaboration between Balenciaga and Crocs, is offering a variety of new products, including Crocs Madame high heeled sandals and Crocs boots. The new Balenciaga Runner sneakers are also included.