As honeymoons go, it was a short one – almost shorter than the wedding.
Hours after inviting Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom on to a superyacht, Lauren Sanchez Bezos was seen landing in Paris, where it seems attending Balenciaga’s couture show was more of a draw than spending more time alone with new husband Jeff Bezos.
She wasn’t the only one unable to resist the show’s allure. The front row included actress Nicole Kidman, singer Katy Perry, White Lotus star Patrick Schwarzenegger, rapper Cardi B, Naomi Watts and her model daughter, Kai Schreiber, designer Vera Wang, singer Lorde, Wicked actress Michelle Yeoh and Salma Hayek, whose husband owns Balenciaga’s parent company, Kering.
All were on hand to watch the swansong of Demna Gvasalia, 44, the Georgian-born designer who has served as Balenciaga’s artistic director for the last ten years.
It was a case of ‘icons only’ on the catwalk, or at least a facsimile of them. Kim Kardashian cosplayed Elizabeth Taylor, in a feather coat and champagne-coloured satin slip dress inspired by Taylor’s costume in the 1958 film Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. She also wore diamond earrings that belonged to the star, borrowed from jeweller Lorraine Schwartz.
Horror film actress Linda Honeyman, 84, was dressed like Dolly Parton, with bouffant blonde hair and a white marabou feather gown. Naomi Campbell, meanwhile, played herself, in a black sequin column dress.
Elephants might never forget, but Balenciaga’s fans have more in common with goldfish.
In 2022, the brand was widely criticised for releasing an advertising campaign featuring pre-school-age children holding teddies dressed in bondage gear.
Pictured: Newlywed Lauren Sanchez Bezos in Balenciaga, spotted having lunch at a restaurant this month
Kim Kardashian cosplayed Elizabeth Taylor, in a feather coat and champagne-coloured satin slip dress inspired by Taylor’s costume in the 1958 film Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
She wasn’t the only one unable to resist the show’s allure. The front row included actress Nicole Kidman
Pictured: Katy Perry attending the Balenciaga Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025/2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week
While Kardashian said she was ‘disgusted’ by the ad, she refused to cut ties with the brand, and in January 2024 was named as a brand ambassador.
Kidman, Yeoh and Isabelle Huppert are also faces of the house founded by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1919.
Whatever the intention behind the ads, Balenciaga certainly seems to have much of Hollywood in a satanic grip.
Demna – he is now so famous that no surname is deemed to be required – is off to head up Gucci, with his debut collection expected to be unveiled as soon as September.
He is succeeded at Balenciaga by Pierpaolo Piccioli, former head at Valentino, who will show his first collection at Paris Fashion Week in October, by which time the Sanchez-Bezos honeymoon will be well and truly over. Though it seems to be already.
