To mark the 25th anniversary of its iconic Le City bag, French fashion house Balenciaga has tapped none other than Damien Hirst to design a limited-edition capsule collection. Dubbed “Damienciaga”—an interesting portmanteau, to say the least—the collaboration sees the YBA provocateur’s artworks transposed on to bags, shoes, jackets and more.
First introduced in 2001, Balenciaga’s Le City, with its deconstructed style inspired by the look of a well-worn motorcycle jacket, is enjoying something of a revival, with Y2K-loving Gen Z consumers flocking to the fashion house’s early-2000s designs. In a collaboration that marries some of contemporary art’s most recognisable motifs with one of fashion’s most enduring accessories, the much-loved bag is given a new look.
For the British artist, too, Le City has held its appeal. “I think everyone knows it, don’t they? It’s one of the most iconic bags of the last 25 years,” he told Vogue. “You associate it with the noughties, with Kate Moss, yet it’s still remained so relevant.”
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Among the collection’s rarest models is an adaptation of Hirst’s signature Spin Paintings, with splashes of electric blue and orange covering the leather of just 25 bags, each hand-painted. The fashion house not publicised a price for the ultra-limited-edition accessories.
Meanwhile Le City bags bearing Hirst’s Spot Paintings and taxidermic butterfly-wing mandalas have been produced in greater numbers, with prices ranging from £590 for a micro bag keyring to in excess of £2,500 for a medium-sized handbag. The same motifs are also available on Balenciaga’s famed chunky trainers, hoodies, scarves, bracelets, and even a Hirst-inspired snowglobe, priced at just shy of £600.
The new collaboration is the latest in a string of partnerships between Hirst, who is regularly described as “the world’s richest artist”, and various fashion houses, including Alexander McQueen and Prada.
Only last month, Barrie, Chanel’s historic Scottish cashmere luxury label, launched a limited-edition capsule collection with the artist, with his dots and butterflies this time rendered on jogging bottoms, cardigans and blankets. In an interview about the collection with Vanity Fair, Hirst described fashion simply as “art that you can wear”, adding that “anything done well is art”.
At Balenciaga, Hirst’s collection drops just days before the arrival of the brand’s newly appointed creative director Martine Rose and forms part of a larger programme of worldwide anniversary celebrations for the Le City bag.
The first in a series of iterative exhibitions across several cities, Le City House opened in Paris earlier this week. Located at Balenciaga’s historic Parisian home on Avenue George V, the show traces the best-selling bag’s evolution over a quarter of a century, culminating in Hirst’s latest adaptations.
