This could easily be the chicest video game of all time.
Balenciaga shared its fall 2021 collection with the public this week in a rather unexpected form: a video game. Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow is an adventure set in the year 2031. Characters navigate through different scenarios while wearing replicas of the brand’s fall 2021 collection.
Does this sound very dystopian? Yes. Does the environment in the game appear, at first, to be decayed? Also yes. But the Balenciaga video game is designed to show the slow return to a better balance of nature and industry; it reinforces the brand’s utilitarian vision for the collection, where each item is multi-purpose and part of the circular economy.
“In the future, a garment that appears to serve one function may serve another, seeing as certain materials will be reinterpreted for new uses,” reads the show notes. “A satin trench is not a coat but a party dress. Jeans layered over pants and sweats showing a boxer short waistband are actually each a single item. As animal fur is no longer appropriate for people to buy new, a puffer is embroidered with recycled fabric that was laser cut to mimic the movement of a fur jacket.”
Play the Balenciaga video game or see the entire fall 2021 collection in the gallery below.