Balenciaga
Balenciaga Brings the Runway to Spatial Computing and Apple Vision Pro
Having an immersive experience on Apple Vision Pro is a natural extension of Balenciaga’s innovative approach to fashion and technology and creative director Demna Gvasalia’s storytelling. We’ve already seen the brand playfully explore the possibilities for these virtual technologies including a fully digital fashion show, “Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow,” using video game technology in 2021, and a WeChat mini game powered by Augmented Reality (AR) in 2023.
With the first phase of its Apple Vision Pro app, Balenciaga gives us both utility and magic: the app serves as a catalogue of past runway shows, including music curated by Demna. The app highlights the latest Spring 2025 Shanghai show with an interactive look book and multiple runway angles as well as stereoscopic video. This is the first app from a luxury brand to feature runway shows and provides the functionality to have multiple windows and angles, all viewed on a super-sized screen where you can choose the atmosphere to experience it in: from Vision Pro environments like the Moon to White Sands, or simply the backdrop of your living space. The feeling is quite intimate and grand at the same time.
The app currently has a “soon” tab; I expect to see immersive games included as the app evolves, three-dimensional models you can browse and interact with in AR, and the ability to shop Balenciaga ready-to-wear pieces using Apple Pay.
Apple Vision Pro and luxury brands are the perfect marriage. With it’s relatively high price point, and incredible attention to design details and materials, Vision Pro, in its current iteration, is still very much a luxury device. Luxury brands need to lean into this, not shy away from it; luxury, after all, is synonymous with exclusivity and now is the time for brands to build out their next generation e-commerce experiences and brand story worlds.
This is a high demand topic in my consulting and advisory practice as I guide luxury brands into this new terrain to best apply these immersive technologies to create compelling and memorable experiences. Get in touch to learn more about my services and 19+ years of pioneering industry expertise.
