When Balenciaga Met Gucci: A Love Story

Collaborations are tricky. Everyone wants to do one (check your DMs!) but the results often are critically panned. Remember Balenciaga x Crocs? Or Nike Air Max Satan x MSCHF? The rabid fascination with limited-edition frakenproducts, when high-end houses mingle with unlikely mass-market cohorts, can’t be denied. The strategy is justified, somewhat, by the fact that it takes but a minute for these offerings to completely sell out. 

Demand, however artificial or authentic, is one mandatory element of a hot collab; gratuitous excess is another. Wearable, subtle designs? Not required. And so, fashionistas and collab-afficionados alike waited with bated breath to see what, if anything, would result from the rumors of a Balenciaga and Gucci collaboration. 

This week, Gucci’s AW21 (digital film-only) Aria presentation, delivered the answer: a logo-drenched fever dream that hit our Editorialist private client styling staff harder than an errant kick from a Gucci-bedecked equine. Here, our Dustin Zuber, Editorialist YX Stylist and Personal Shopper, breaks down everything you need to know about Balenciaga x Gucci. (Balenucci…? Gucciaga…?)