--- title: Balenciaga's Dystopian Newscast Taps Into Our Darkest Fears description: Avant garde high fashion brand Balenciaga taps into our darkest fears for an advertising campaign disguised as a dystopian newscast. canonical: https://time.com/5786030/balenciaga-dystopian-newscast/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-18T22:51:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:18.652Z og:title: Balenciaga's Dystopian Newscast Taps Into Some Pretty Dark Fears og:description: Too close for comfort og:url: https://time.com/5786030/balenciaga-dystopian-newscast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb77776900b3b1c69/698a0a6522fb851efce2a9bf/balenciaga-dystopian-newscast.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Balenciaga : Runway - Paris Fashion Week - Womenswear Spring Summer 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Balenciaga's Dystopian Newscast Taps Into Some Pretty Dark Fears twitter:description: Too close for comfort twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb77776900b3b1c69/698a0a6522fb851efce2a9bf/balenciaga-dystopian-newscast.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Balenciaga's Ad Campaign Is a Terrifyingly Stressful Dystopian Newscast  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 18, 2020 10:51 PM UTC  PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 29: A model walks the runway during the Balenciaga Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 29, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 29: A model walks the runway during the Balenciaga Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 29, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images—Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 18, 2020 10:51 PM UTC Between [global warming](https://time.com/5709100/halt-climate-change-300-billion/), [precarious international politics](https://time.com/5785400/boris-johnson-andrew-sabisky-race/), and the stress of [impending presidential elections](https://time.com/5782619/bernie-sanders-2020-democratic-frontrunner-new-hampshire/), there’s a lot to worry about in this current moment, a feeling that [Balenciaga](https://time.com/5475448/balenciaga-office-furniture/) creative director Demna Gvasalia appears to tapping into with his latest advertising campaign for the high fashion campaign. Balenciaga dropped a series of images featuring models as politicians running for office and a very stressful video of a dystopian evening newscast where water is disappearing, the planets are realigning, and all of the newscasters and subjects speak monotone gibberish over an ominous soundtrack, while dressed in head-to-toe Balenciaga. The effect is futuristic and a little disturbing, but fans of Gvasalia’s avant garde work at Balenciaga know that the Georgian designer often [deals in discomfort to promote his collections](https://time.com/5072393/ridiculous-fashion-items/). At the house’s SS20 runway show, models walked to a haunting musical mix while in a severe all-blue room that many interpreted as a nod to the E.U. 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