Balenciaga leans on escapism in high summer 2025 ads

April 24, 2025

The company is leaning on the draws of high-end hospitality for its new campaign. Image credit: Balenciaga/Roe Ethridge

French fashion house Balenciaga is drawing inspiration from vintage advertisements to promote its latest release.

Launched this week, the brand’s High Summer 2025 campaign captures its new seasonal capsule at a vibrant beachside resort. The imagery odes to old-school marketing shots for luxury hotels, showcasing the poolside designs across a series of wide shots meant to mimic magazine spreads.

Making waves
Escapism centers the new release, with the photos featuring an in-demand, exotic luxury vacation locale, the bright blue waters of a high-end resort.

Shot by American photographer Roe Ethridge, Balenciaga’s latest High Summer campaign features a multicultural group of young models set in front of three distinct and scenic views, the seaside, beachside and poolside.

Balenciaga presents High Summer 2025

Each of the models is pictured in various positions, posing on white sand beaches, sitting on spa treatment beds by the water and lying atop the diving board above the hotel’s pool. All of the shots feature pieces from the new High Summer capsule shown on a selection of six models.

The stills serve to update the throwback marketing style through a contemporary lens, pairing the backdrops of the past with the fashion and technology of today. To bring the imagery to life, Balenciaga used computer effects to animate the models and their apparel, now appearing to sway in the wind while the background remains stagnant, playing further into the inspiration of scenic travel marketing shots.

Also inspired by the vintage advertising, each image and video is adorned with a tagline a consumer might expect from a hospitality brand, such as “make yourself at home,” and “check into comfort,’ among many other vacation-themed phrases. These kinds of placements also inspired a recent release from LVMH-owned German luggage brand Rimowa, leaning into nostalgia as well as consumers’ love of travel (see story).

A new version of the Le City handbag design is also included in the drop, now crafted from denim. Image credit: Balenciaga/Roe Ethridge

The High Summer capsule spans more than 150 pieces across men’s and women’s selections, including bathing suits, sandals, handbags, sunglasses, shorts, backpacks, t-shirts, dresses and other pieces of warm-weather ready-to-wear, as well as various themed accessories.

Balenciaga’s new seasonal collection is available now online and in-store.

Hit the beach
Balenciaga joins a growing list of luxury apparel staples dropping beachwear capsules this month as maisons prepare for the sunny, warm summer days ahead.

Many prestige brands are showcasing their respective high summer selections in a similar manner.

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British fashion house Burberry came out of the gates earlier this month with its campaign, escaping the rain and gloom of London for a picturesque coastline getaway framed to resemble classical postcards (see story).

Soon after, Italian fashion label Prada and French fashion house Louis Vuitton launched their respective marketing initiatives, each featuring a surrealist slant.

Prada captured a cast of influential entertainment industry talents aboard small, colorful boats in a never-ending sea, using the vessels as a metaphor for freedom (see story). Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton’s Resort 2025 campaign showcases a supersized version of American actress and brand ambassador Zendaya lounging throughout the Italian Riviera in pieces from the assemblage (see story).

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Balenciaga leans on escapism in high summer 2025 ads

Have a safe, relaxing Memorial Day weekend

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