fit (a physically large outfit) would combine.

That's exactly what happened at Sunday's Grammy Awards, to which the pop star Justin Bieber arrived swathed in an absolutely enormous gray Balenciaga suit. Accessories included: a pair of Balenciaga’s demonic HardCrocs, which are designer Demna’s preternatural take on the everyman’s molded EVA foam clog sandal; a neon pink beanie; Morpheus-style sunglasses; and the ribbed white A-shirt he stripped down to during the show. On the red carpet, in order to hold hands with his model wife Hailey Bieber—who, in a simple Saint Laurent column, was dressed for another dimension entirely—Bieber had to scooch up the jacket’s gigantic sleeves. Justin’s longtime stylist Karla Welch, mastermind of headline-grabbing fits, dressed both Biebers last night. 

Thanks to Welch, we’ve been able to bear witness to the evolution of Baggy Bieber, from his off-duty sweatsuits and Yeezy moon boots to his topsy-turvy Met Gala tux, as his covetable-louche casualwear eventually cleared the floor for haute-droopy formalwear. Balenciaga, too, has played a major role in his shift to Big Fit legitimacy. Bieber's become a face of the house since appearing in an ad campaign last summer, predating a number of big-name appearances on the likes of Kim Kardashian, Offset, Elliot Page, and Lewis Hamilton—the latter two of whom wore the same HardCrocs down the red carpet runway during Balenciaga’s spring 2022 presentation.

On that note: these  Crocs are only the latest link in Demna’s long history with the foam sandal, whose groan-to-grail arc may bear some resemblance to that of the ill-fitting suit, or a certain teen idol. Redemption, in all its forms, is bigger than before.