Back in March of last year, Balenciaga’s AW18 collection debuted on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week. It was a sea of sexy devoré roll necks for men, 3D printed tailoring and t-shirts emblazoned with throwback imagery of boy bands (that have never actually existed). Among those pieces, we also got our first insight into Demna Gvasalia’s more altruistic side, as he peppered pieces from Balenciaga’s first collaboration with the World Food Programme throughout the collection.
The WFP’s logo and slogan (“Saving Lives, Changing Lives”) graced fluro-yellow t-shirts, bum bags, totes, hoodies, caps and knitwear, which went on to be sold among Balenciaga’s other pieces, with a portion of the proceeds going back to the charity.
“When someone will buy a WFP-branded product, they will be making a tangible difference for people in hunger-stricken parts of the world,” Demna said in a statement at the time. On top of the $250,000 donation Balenciaga made to the WFP, a customer buying one windbreaker would give over 100 families in crisis kitchen sets to feed themselves. A baseball cap would provide 200 packets of high-energy biscuits to those in need.
Now, following on from the success of the last collection, the French fashion house has unveiled the next chapter in its collaboration with the charity: a new collection of hoodies, scarves, hats, blouses and underwear. Some will simply bear the WFP logo, like the AW18 line, while others will mix up the Balenciaga and WFP logos in a new, slanted pattern.
It’s all part of Balenciaga’s pledge to help the World Food Programme solve world hunger by 2030. You can do your bit — and get some new garms while you’re at it — when the pieces drop in stores and on a dedicated Balenciaga e-store next month!
