Balenciaga is celebrating the world of Formula 1 with a series of artworks that blend land and sea.
Created in collaboration with artist Showichi Kaneda, the fashion house will debut the creative’s latest additions to his Human’s Own sculpture series at Balenciaga’s Wynn Plaza store in Sin City made just for this year’s Las Vegas Gran Prix, priced at $70,000. The series consists of Formula 1 racing cars that have morphed to mirror the streamlined bodies of hammerhead sharks, a species that must continue swimming forward to survive, Highsnobiety reports. The project is designed as a commentary on speed, progress, survival, and desire in the context of fashion and technology.
The making of the works reflects the marriage between handcraft and the latest computer-based tech preferred by the artist. Measuring 42 x 15 x 16 inches, each sculpture was 3-D printed in parts before being refined by hand and used to form a silicone mold to achieve the final shape. Every iteration is peppered with Balenciaga logos, with their placement inspired by sportswear branding and rendered in the same paints and clear top coat applied to actual race cars. The high-gloss polish used as the final touch on each sculpture not only evokes the finish of automotive surfaces but also traditional Japanese lacquerware crafts.
A green iteration of the sculptures in Showichi Kaneda’s exclusive series.
The project fits squarely within Kaneda’s wheelhouse. The artist has extensively explored the use of lacquer, varnish, car paint, fiber-reinforced plastic, and resin in both his paintings and sculptures. Kaneda’s Human’s Own series was initially inspired by the “shark fin” engine covers found on F1 automobiles, an observation that compelled him to consider the animal-like qualities found in human beings through his artwork.
The sculptures are just one element of Balenciaga’s new Racing Series that draws from the upper echelon of the automotive world. The brand is also launching a capsule collection of apparel—including a racer jacket, a T-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie—all emblazoned with Balenciaga’s Unity Sports logo inspired by sports iconography.