>> Balenciaga campaigns are never my favorite, but as more, bigger pictures from the Fall 2008 set with Charlotte Gainsbourg appear, I'm left with a more disappointed feeling than usual.

According to Nicholas Ghesquiere, the goal was to have Charlotte embody the "more mature" collection with a severe chignon, arch makeup, and angular couture poses, directly contrasting with her everyday laidback appeal.

In between point A and point B, however, the essence of Charlotte has been lost — I can't even see her in these pictures. I know that Nicholas has been playing the idea with stiff women robots for some seasons now (those Spring 2007 Tron-inspired leggings, the stances in Jennifer Connelly's ads), but this time, it's not a good representation of the collection, which albeit hard-edged, has an undeniably sexy facet to it.
*image: source