Meta Is Courting Balenciaga... Again

Balenciaga’s socials have stayed otherwise quiet on the topic, while Meta’s Eva Chen has taken to Instagram to tease “a fashion announcement that just might break the internet” on her Instagram story.

In an Instagram post, she also shared a handful of Bitmoji’s we assume are meant to be her in Balenciaga tees with the caption, “Who wore it better: me or my avatar? Going live tomorrow with @zuck to share some exciting news about avatar fashion.”

Could it be the Balenciaga Metaverse line we’ve been waiting for? Don't get your hopes up. Meta has (unsuccessfully) courted the meme-master fashion line before.

In October 2021, Meta tweeted at Balenciaga saying “Hey @Balenciaga, what’s the dress code in the metaverse?” and got ghosted.

Listen, we’ve all been there. But Meta is playing the long game, and this time it might’ve paid off. Imagining Mark Zuckerberg as the underdog rom-com protagonist holding a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” up to Demna’s window ala Say Anything. The Virtual Reality might’ve finally won back the fashion house.

Their first foray into fashion was decidedly ill-received. Announced alongside the shift from Facebook into Meta, Zuckerberg promised big things, including "digital outfits" for the Metaverse’s avatars. When the platform launched with avatars dressed to the negative-nines in beige slacks, yellow pantsuits, business casual blazers and shin-length dresses, people were, safe to say, unimpressed.

I mean, who could’ve guessed Zuckerberg’s fashion sense would be sub-par? The man has been wearing the same grey shirt and blue jeans for the past five years. Which brings us back to the grey shirt in Chen’s Instagram post. Could the Metaverse be launching a collection of their very own avatar grey t-shirts?! Now that would break the internet... if Wii Fit hadn’t done it in 2013.

Photo via Getty/ Kirstin Sinclair