Katy Perry fronts Balenciaga sneakers

Balenciaga put Katy Perry at the center of its sneaker campaign on April 3, with videos and stills built around two shoes: the new Radar and the updated Triple S.2. The campaign is called “On Repeat,” and Balenciaga says it is part of the house’s latest sneaker launch. (balenciaga.com) Perry is not alone in the cast, but she is the most recognizable pop name in it. The same campaign also includes Chinese actress Yao Chen and footballer Hugo Ekitike, which gives Balenciaga reach across music, film, and sport instead of one fashion-world audience. (wwd.com) The ad itself is less red carpet than workout studio. FashionNetwork reports that Perry is shown skipping rope in a minimalist gym setting, while Balenciaga ties the whole project to “routine,” “discipline,” and repeated daily habits. (fashionnetwork.com) That tone is new for Balenciaga because the brand is in a new creative era. Kering said in May 2025 that Pierpaolo Piccioli would become Balenciaga creative director effective July 10, 2025, after the Demna period that made the house famous for oversized, confrontational fashion. (kering.com) The shoes tell that story better than any press release. Balenciaga describes Radar as an “ultra-light” silhouette, while Triple S.2 is positioned as the next step for the Triple S line that helped define the luxury chunky sneaker boom. (balenciaga.com, balenciaga.com) Triple S matters here because it was one of the shoes that turned the “ugly sneaker” into a luxury business in 2017. Balenciaga’s own Triple S.2 launch materials frame the new model as an evolution of the original sole and the original sneaker, which is the brand openly revisiting one of its biggest hits. (balenciaga.com) Radar goes the other direction. Balenciaga’s product page calls it bold and ultra-light, and outside coverage has focused on its lower, slimmer profile, which is a sharp contrast with the thick, heavy shapes Balenciaga spent years pushing. (balenciaga.com, hypebae.com) That is where Perry fits. A global pop star with mainstream recognition can make a luxury shoe feel less like runway theory and more like something people will actually notice, remember, and search for when the silhouette is trying to jump from fashion circles into broader culture. (wwd.com, fashionnetwork.com) Balenciaga also tied the launch to music, not just images. Women’s Wear Daily reported that the brand released exclusive playlists on its official music channels alongside the sneaker campaign, which turns Perry’s presence into part of a larger entertainment package rather than a one-off celebrity ad. (wwd.com) So the headline is not just that Katy Perry wore Balenciaga sneakers in an ad. It is that Balenciaga used Perry to introduce a lighter new shoe, refresh a 2017 icon, and show what Piccioli’s version of the brand looks like when it wants movement, routine, and mass visibility instead of pure shock value. (balenciaga.com, kering.com)