From catwalks to consumer practices: Luxury in the Balenciaga discourse

This article presents the results of the dissertation developed by the author on luxury brand discourses, aiming to understand how Balenciaga mobilizes and reinvents communication strategies in different contexts to maintain relevance in the luxury market. The corpus comprised advertising campaigns, editorials and products from the three periods: Cristóbal Balenciaga (1937-1968), Nicolas Ghesquière (1997-2012) and Demna Gvasalia (2015-2025). The theoretical framework articulated Lipovetsky, Kapferer, Orlandi, Maingueneau, Douglas and McCracken, among others. The results revealed distinct discursive strategies as a response to specific historical contexts. The research demonstrated that contemporary luxury operates paradoxically, transforming the critique of its foundations into a new mechanism of distinction, reaffirming its mythical nature.