Kelsea Ballerini & Mackenzie Porter Wore Balenciaga To The 2022 CMA Awards

The 2022 CMA Awards took place at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday (November 9) in Nashville, Tennessee.

There was a time when I wasn’t a fan of reruns, because I felt that if a designer is sending 38 looks down the runway, why does a celebrity feel the need to wear a dress that someone has already worn?

But as I learned more about the industry and how some celebrities are loaned dresses, and some buy, that is where a “re-run” can occur.

Also, some PR showrooms will only get a limited amount of dress from the brands. But it’s also important to note that some showrooms will state who has worn a dress before.

Then you have the unique situation where Sarah Jessica Parker was told by Olivier Theyskens of Nina Ricci, that her silver Nina Ricci gown (which she wore ‘The Sex And The City’ New York premiere) had never been worn on the red carpet before, but socialite Lauren Santo Domingo had worn the very same dress to the Met Ball.

And the last situation is where the second person will knowingly wear an already worn red carpet dress, knowing she will get publicity by being compared to the original wearer.

And that is where we get to this Kelsea Ballerini and Mackenzie Porter double showing at the 2022 CMA Awards.

Unless neither artist or their stylists have the Internet or social media, both ladies knew that this Balenciaga Swimsuit gloved gown from the Fall 2022 collection had been worn by the most famous woman on the planet, Kim Kardashian (to the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party).

I’m not knocking either woman’s hustle, this is showbusiness after all, and I don’t expect Kelsea or Mackenzie know that they were going to wear this dress to the same event, but the publicity – especially for Mackenzie Porter who less face it, I probably would not have seen had she not worn this dress – was worth it for all parties.

Kelsea opted to keep the minimalist vision of the designer, while Mackenzie removed the gloves, and added complementary David Yurman earrings and LarAllan clutch.

Some of you might wonder why they didn’t make a bigger statement with the styling, but had either woman opted for a statement necklace for example, there may have been a discussion about them not understanding the brand or diluting the creative vision.

In conclusion, Kelsea and Mackenzie both looked good in the dress – it would be hard to look bad in a dress like this – but I would have personally liked something different in terms of the styling.   

That will always be my take on reruns.

Kelsea’s stylist: Molly Dickson. Mackenzie’s stylist: Krista Roser.

Credit: Vogue.com & Getty

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