#174 The World Cup Reaches Fever Pitch & Balenciaga is on a Wellness Kick

This week in wellness, headline number one has been published in a lot of different outlets, Athletic News, European Business, etc.

So Balenciaga is on a wellness kick.

So Balenciaga is the luxury fashion brand.

So it says smoothies, post-workout bars and fitness studio takeovers are among activations arriving in tandem with Balenciaga Techwear, which is an integral part of their pre-fall 2026 collection.

So alongside the launch of the Balenciaga Techwear line, the Paris-based house is planning pop-ups in Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, and Bangkok.

That will be serving up smoothies, healthy juices, and post-workout protein and adaptogen bars.

In addition, the Paris-based fashion house has planned full-day takeovers at Barry's, fitness studios in LA, New York, London, Paris, Milan, Dubai, Singapore, and Sydney, all fashion hotspots worldwide.

Now, main character is the name given to the photogenic black and white smoothie featuring marine collagen cubes, while back to life is described as an ashwagandha infused mango matcha.

Then we have four Balenciaga branded juices are billed as detoxifying, antioxidant rich, super hydrating or loaded with vitamin C.

Now, the clinging technical garments, which include leggings.

Have you guys seen the price of the leggings?

no

what thousand dollars for thousand dollar leggings crop tanks and catsuits yeah so the line includes leggings crop tanks and catsuits made with moisture wicking antibacterial fibers and fabrics and even styles embroidered with sequins which are meant to survive a sweaty yoga session or a long run

it's going to need to be made from unicorn hair if you want me to pay a grand for it

honest the price point isn't really that surprising it's Balenciaga I mean Balenciaga typically I mean bags are you know let's say north of a thousand two thousand three thousand and also I mean let's be honest they're quite famous for their distressed range which when it came out was basically like trainers and hoodies that looked like they were really old like really old they looked like they'd been I don't know, worn for God knows what.

And they were about a thousand pounds and people were buying them.

And then you might've even seen the Balenciaga carrier bag.

Did you see that? The plastic bag.

The plastic bag.

It's basically looks like a plastic bag from your corner shop, but it's $800.

But back to this, because there's so much in here and actually broader than this, we can probably start with the, you know, Balenciaga's having a wellness kick.

It's fashion, it's fitness, it's expensive, it's luxury.

It's all of those things.

But also, I think there's so many headlines at the moment to do with fashion and fitness and fashion brands, fashion houses.

Obviously, we talked before about the Aloe Cruz.