Written By | Fashion and Design Desk
The house marks 25 years of the Le City bag with a limited-edition collaboration with the British artist, launched in the window between two creative directors.
Search
PARIS
Few handbags can claim to define a decade. Balenciaga's Le City, the slouchy, studded, distressed-leather "motorcycle bag" that hung from the shoulders of Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, the Olsen twins and Nicole Richie, is one of them. This week, the bag turned into a canvas. Balenciaga has unveiled "Damienciaga," a limited-edition collaboration with British artist Damien Hirst that marks the start of the Le City's 25th-anniversary celebrations, and it arrives at one of the most unusual moments in the house's recent history.
What's in the Collection
At the heart of the capsule is the Le City itself, reworked in Hirst's visual vocabulary. According to the brand's announcement, reported by FashionUnited, the central design is a new pattern of round, multicolored spots arranged into a simplified butterfly shape, a fusion of two of the artist's best-known motifs. Other versions feature mandalas made from butterfly wings, embroidered patches bearing Hirst's name and references to his well-known works, and his Spin Paintings stretched across the bag's contours.
The collaboration extends well beyond the bag. Hypebeast and StyleRave report that the spot patterns also appear on T-shirts, scarves and wallets, while sticker-style graphics of pills, hearts and Balenciaga house logos decorate hoodies, caps, bomber jackets and sneakers, including a reimagined Triple S in two colorways. The pill imagery nods to Hirst's long-running medicine-cabinet works, while the butterflies recall his kaleidoscope pieces.
The collection is sold through Balenciaga's website, and StyleRave reports that some sneaker sizes were already unavailable shortly after release. Balenciaga has not publicly listed a production quantity, and prices were not included in the coverage available at the time of writing.
A Bag With a Back Story
The Le City was introduced in 2001 by Nicolas Ghesquière, then the house's creative director. Its features, slouchy body, distressed leather, metal studs and buckles, were almost anti-luxury at the time: a bag that looked like it had already lived a life. It became one of the first true "it bags" of the 2000s, and successive designers have revisited it since. Alexander Wang, Demna and, most recently, Pierpaolo Piccioli each put their stamp on the style.
To celebrate the milestone, Balenciaga opened Le City House on November 10 at its Avenue George V building in Paris, running through November 19. StyleRave reports that the exhibition displays the original 2001 prototype, rare archival editions and bags previously owned by celebrities, and is expected to travel to New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul.
The anniversary campaign, set in Los Angeles, stars Nicole Richie, an early collector of the bag, alongside actress Rachel Sennott, who is described as a friend of the house, photographed in a series of snapshots with their bags. StyleRave notes that the Paris presentation also featured Isabelle Huppert.
Between Two Eras
The timing is impossible to ignore. Kering confirmed Piccioli's departure from Balenciaga on November 5, after an appointment that began in May 2025 and a first collection shown in October 2025. A day later, on November 6, Kering named Martine Rose as creative director, starting November 16. She will be the first woman to lead the house in its 109-year history, and she previously worked as a menswear consultant under Demna.
That makes Damienciaga a kind of bridge collection, launched by the house in the brief interval between two creative leaders. Anniversary projects built around an archival icon and an outside artist are a classic way for a brand to keep commercial momentum while the creative direction resets, and the Le City, a bag that every Balenciaga era has claimed for itself, is the natural vehicle.
Why Hirst, Why Now
Hirst is no stranger to fashion. In October he partnered with Scottish knitwear house Barrie on a cashmere collaboration, and his imagery has long sat at the intersection of art, commerce and pop culture. According to FashionUnited, Balenciaga describes the partnership as reflecting a shared interest in universal beauty, renewal and the power of belief, themes that map neatly onto butterflies (transformation) and pills (faith in a cure).
There is also a cultural logic. The Le City and Hirst both rose to fame around the turn of the millennium, when Young British Art and early-2000s celebrity style dominated the tabloids. Pairing them is a knowing piece of Y2K nostalgia, exactly the mood that has fueled the bag's revival among a younger generation discovering it through resale platforms and old paparazzi photos.
What This Means for You
If you own a vintage Le City, this anniversary is likely to sharpen interest in originals, especially early Ghesquière-era pieces. Collectors may want to watch resale prices over the coming months. If you are tempted by the Hirst pieces themselves, the reported sellouts suggest that hesitation is costly; limited art collaborations tend to hold value better than seasonal styles, particularly bags. And if you simply love the look, the collection's broader message is that the "worn-in" luxury aesthetic of the 2000s, distressed leather, hardware and personality over polish, is firmly back in fashion.
For anyone in Paris before November 19, Le City House offers a rare chance to see the 2001 prototype and archival pieces up close, free of the scrum of a sale.
The Bottom Line
Damienciaga is a smart, playful tribute to a bag that shaped modern accessory culture, and a reminder that some icons outlast every creative director who touches them. As Martine Rose prepares to take the reins next week, the Le City's 25th birthday reminds everyone that Balenciaga's archive is one of its greatest assets. The spots and butterflies may be Hirst's, but the bag remains, as ever, Balenciaga's most enduring signature.
