Balenciaga Graffiti City Classic Hardware Black Agneau Lambskin SS18
Sold Archive
Preserved in the Sold Attire Vault
This Balenciaga piece has sold. We keep it online as a reference for material, era, condition, price context, and collector demand in Egypt. It is not available to purchase.
This piece has found its home.
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Egypt's only Star Buyer approved at Japan's top luxury auction. Every piece passes through collectors' hands where provenance is verified and the margin for error is zero.
Demna's first graffiti drop, hand-painted in white over black agneau, no two bags identical.
This Balenciaga Graffiti City has been authenticated by our 10-step verification process, ensuring every detail meets the standard expected by serious collectors. Demna Gvasalia took creative direction at Balenciaga in 2015 and spent his first three years rewriting the house's relationship to streetwear. The Graffiti City debuted in his Spring/Summer 2018 collection, each bag hand-painted in white over a black agneau lambskin base, no two patterns identical. The release sold out at retail and was never repeated at the same scale, which is why pre-owned Balenciaga bags Egypt buyers track Demna-era artifacts at a premium. For those who buy once and buy right, this City is that piece.
Dimensions & Details
- Brand: Balenciaga
- Model: Graffiti City Classic Hardware
- Year / Era: Spring/Summer 2018, Demna Gvasalia
- Width: 38 cm
- Height: 24 cm
- Depth: 15 cm
- Handle Drop: 11 cm (top handle), 51 cm (detachable shoulder strap)
- Material: Black agneau lambskin with hand-painted white graffiti
- Lining: Black cotton with zip pocket and patch pockets
- Hardware: Classic Hardware (RH), aged brass studs, buckles, and zip pulls
- Condition: 8/10, Very Good. Graffiti hand-paint integrity strong, faint paint wear consistent with SS18 process. Light corner softening at the base. Hardware tone uniform. Interior clean, structure holding shape.
- Inclusions: Mirror with matching graffiti ID card holder, detachable shoulder strap, Sold Attire dust bag
- Origin: Italy, sourced from Japan's premier vintage market
The Vision ›
She is twenty-six, an architecture student in Heliopolis, leaving the Korba studios at midnight. Black combat boots, oversized vintage tee, slim black trousers. The Graffiti City swings off her shoulder by the long strap, the white paint catching the streetlight outside Mandarine Koueider. The bag does not match the outfit. The bag does not need to. Demna designed it for the woman who refuses to dress quietly and refuses to apologise for refusing.
The Provenance ›
When Demna Gvasalia took creative direction at Balenciaga in 2015, the City had been the house's bestselling silhouette for fourteen years and was beginning to feel like a museum piece. SS18 was the season Demna refused to retire it and instead recoded it. Each Graffiti City was hand-painted in white over a black agneau base before final assembly, the lettering and tags pulled from Demna's own visual archive. The release was never numbered, never restocked at the same scale, and never returned to the runway. Pre-loved Balenciaga Cairo collectors now treat the SS18 Graffiti as a Demna-era marker, with hand-paint integrity (how much white survives on the high-friction zones) being the primary condition variable.
The Dialogue ›
Q: Are all Balenciaga Graffiti Cities painted the same?
A: No. Each SS18 Graffiti was hand-painted before assembly, which means no two bags share the same lettering pattern, density, or paint wear behaviour. That is the design. Some examples carry heavier graffiti across the front panel, others run the paint denser on the sides. Authentication includes confirming the paint sits under the original lacquer seal rather than over a re-painted base, which is the most common counterfeit signal.
Q: How do I distinguish SS18 Graffiti from the 2019 Graffiti re-release?
A: Two markers. SS18 carries the original Demna agneau base in deep black, which has aged slightly toward charcoal in surviving examples. The 2019 re-release used a corrected agneau dressing that holds black truer over time. Hardware on SS18 is aged brass with the older Balenciaga stud profile. The 2019 hardware sits slightly brighter. Serial card placement also differs: SS18 ID holders carry the same hand-painted graffiti as the bag, the 2019 re-release uses a printed graffiti pattern on the holder.
Q: Why is the SS18 Graffiti collectible now?
A: Demna's first three years at Balenciaga produced four signature releases, of which the SS18 Graffiti is the most photographed. Vestiaire Collective tracking shows Graffiti City prices have appreciated approximately 40 percent since 2021, faster than the broader Balenciaga City market. Hand-paint integrity is the primary value variable: examples where the white paint remains intact across the front panel trade above examples where the high-friction zones have lifted.
The Care ›
The hand-painted graffiti is the design's most fragile element. Avoid wiping the painted zones with damp cloth: the white pigment is sealed but can lift under repeated friction. Clean only the unpainted black agneau panels with a dry cloth. Store stuffed inside the dust bag, away from sunlight. The graffiti pattern reads more clearly under cooler light and slightly muted under warm interior bulbs.
Authentication & Guarantee ›
Every piece at Sold Attire undergoes our proprietary 10-step authentication process, combining material analysis, hardware inspection, and provenance verification. We stand behind every sale with a lifetime authenticity guarantee. If you can prove otherwise, we refund in full. No debate.
The Sold Attire Standard
- ✓ Only one available, when it is gone, it is gone
- ✓ Sourced from Japan's premier vintage market, where preservation is a cultural standard
- ✓ 10-step authentication with lifetime guarantee
- ✓ Private showroom appointments available in New Cairo
- ✓ Next-day delivery across Cairo & Giza, nationwide available
- ✓ 14-day hassle-free returns, no questions asked
Explore our curated selection of the Classic City in powder blue, the Classic City in vermilion, and discover more investment-grade pieces in our Carry Luxe collection, where every piece is sourced with care and authenticated to collector-grade standards.
No two bags repeat. That is the entire point.
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