Kim Kardashian Staged a Dirt-Filled Photoshoot in New Unseen Balenciaga

As if the 75 looks that made up Balenciaga’s spring 2023 collection weren’t enough, Demna has revealed one last addition with the help of his current pop culture muse Kim Kardashian. On Wednesday, the 41-year-old multi-hyphenate posted an Instagram proving just how strong her bond is with the creative director: “When I couldn’t make it to the @balenciaga show @demna sent the show to me,” she captioned an Instagram photo shoot of herself wearing a strapless dress composed entirely of black leather belts. She slicked her platinum blonde hair into a chignon, the better to showcase her oversized sunglasses with detailing that resembled cat ears.

Most designers wouldn’t be too pleased with the person they gifted a special ensemble promptly getting dirty in it in a mound of soil. But the backdrop of Kardashian’s photoshoot was entirely in keeping with Demna’s vision for spring 2023: The catwalk at his latest Paris Fashion Week showing was a giant pit of mud. Even the models wearing floor-length dresses didn’t shy from stomping through the puddles. The soil that Kardashian posed on in addition to a plain white backdrop was only slightly damp, but she definitely got mud on her fingers.

Whether it was Kardashian’s idea to embrace the earthy theme or Demna actually sent her bags of soil with specific instructions remains unclear, but in any case, it isn’t the first time Kardashian has posed for a fashion shoot in such a setting. She memorably climbed up an even bigger mound of dirt for System magazine back in 2015.

Kardashian did not explain why she was mysteriously absent from not just her favorite designer’s showing, but also the spring 2023 fashion weeks at large. She only showed face at Fendi and Marc Jacobs’s tribute to the Baguette bag in New York and—naturally—her collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana in Milan. Then again, Kardashian has had plenty keeping her busy. She just launched a true crime podcast and entered the home goods sphere with a line including $129 garbage cans.