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Balenciaga’s Sunday morning show is always one of the most anticipated of Paris Fashion Week, although this season the expectations are less celebratory. In November last year, the brand was embroiled in scandal after an incredible seven-year turnaround by creative director Demna. Two separate ad campaigns fed social media paranoia about pedophilia, and the lack of clear communication on Balenciaga’s part fed into the perception that the brand was involved in a sinister global conspiracy or simply ridiculous and arrogant.
Even those who understand the mistakes and tragedies seem to be calling for the designer’s head, expressing fatigue with the brand’s relationship with celebrities (especially Kanye West, with whom the product was cut in October due to hateful use). speech), his meme-like luxuries (Ikea-like bags worth more than $2,000) and his insistence on positioning sneakers and hats as true luxury products. Demna is one of the most misunderstood designers these days; There are many skeptics who view humor and jokes as expressions of sincerity and creativity.
I’ve always found this a bit strange, as many of his efforts were convincing. They spent six years creating their own universe as artists and managers and DJs before the brand joined actual celebrities like the Kardashians. Demna’s partnership with Kim Kardashian was really weird and funny, daring a celebrity to wear an outfit that expressed her public opinion—A superhero? International travel promotion package? Empty? Just a toy?– rather than her own feelings. And demolishing luxury has changed the way we value things and objects. Why isn’t a cashmere coat as expensive to you as a hat is to someone else?
For Fall 2023, Demna expressed his desire to return to his roots. I think he’s completely successful in that endeavor, but before we get into the clothes, I want to think a little bit about what “roots” means to Demna specifically. He is not a nostalgic designer who takes a pious, church-like approach to “house codes.” He grew up in post-Soviet Georgia, a time and place where Western goods enter the country years after they appear elsewhere, so sneakers and sweatpants and logoed T-shirts and shell jackets are magical, wishful thinking. His youth. (Critic Natasha Stagg has written well about this.. “Balenciaga-Vetements’ style trademark is best explained as thigh-high, in 1990s Russia, East meets West a little bit, combined with what became the emblem of Western style in the 80s, cheap-looking clothes in traditionally feminine materials. It’s a style all its own,” she writes, later adding, “It’s fashion at its best—and at its most terrifying—fashion that draws on the past to predict the future.
He was clearly fascinated by Cristobal Balenciaga, but always found inspiration in his own creative way from his master’s work, the first and most successful. From Fall 2018, the amazing 3-D printed seven-layer coatIt echoes Balenciaga’s passion for creating performance wear in Demna’s native language. And his outfits are reminiscent of Balenciaga’s aspirational, insight-only clothes that may seem dowdy or uninteresting to the uninitiated (if you don’t know what I mean, read Truman Capote describing Mona Von Bismarck’s couture dresses in). Answered prayers). When Demna first broke out with Vetements, the brand he co-founded and is now run by his brother Ghuram, the pieces that caught everyone’s attention were fun and unusual reworkings of anodyne clothes. The hats are too big Or Fashion-y is provided with shoulder padsor glen plaid fabric to pencil dress or A dress that looks like it sits on top, not on the bodyThe label is visible on the back neck.
These days, Demna’s skeptics seem to accuse him of subtly promoting phenomena he actually invented: the dad sneaker, the hoodie as a fashion status symbol, positioning the seemingly ugly or generic as beautiful and unique. (His couture collections are also responsible for the frenzy of enthusiasm we saw everywhere from Balmain to Prada to Bottega in the 1950s. Success?), but the danger and confusion in our world, and in all that chaos. They explained the possibilities of creativity and innovation, perhaps more quickly and interestingly than any other design in the 21st century.
Now to this season’s collection. Backstage, Demna talked about wanting the set to be “200% me,” and after a few shows in a tunnel and into black runway hangers, he wanted to turn the focus back to his clothes. (He actually showed his Sunday set in a low-ceilinged white box.) He started with this idea in October, before the November scandals; No logos, no celebrities, Only clothes.
But as things unfold, he seeks refuge in Surrey, and that defines the opening part of the collection. “I spent a few days at home last December during a very difficult time for me, I had to find a place to focus on something else,” he said. “And I really found that place, that shelter, in cutting and sewing. I basically decided to take a pair of pants that I cut out and make a different kind of clothes. Jackets, jackets. And it really became part of the overall tailoring of the collection. His mother reminded him that pants were the first clothes he ever made for himself. “I felt the need to tear that down to build something new. Figuratively speaking, this is what happened at the beginning of the show,” he said.
It became a pants jacket, a mini skirt, another pair of pants. Some of the suit’s trousers were attached so that two front leg panels would flow forward as the model walked. (You can see how those pieces gave rise to luxuriously refined Margiela-ish ideas at his debut at Vetements.) A more refined Demnan followed: tight-as-a-knot hats and outerwear and fitted jersey pants. A device that lets you explode like an airbag, worn with super-huge motocross boots, created both cocoon and hourglass shapes – “two very important images for me and for Balenciaga.” There were also a series of immaculate and fully refined coats: a floor-length round-button shoulder coat in printed lynx, black leather and shiny red snakeskin, three of the best outerwear in a season of coat looks. Big description of brands.
The last part was very sophisticated in its performance and purpose: a series of evening dresses is completely different from the kitchen, which emphasizes that it wants to be different. “Couture is a lot about heritage and how I update it,” he said. “But when it’s ready to wear, there’s this side of me that people don’t know about me.” Working again with buttoned shoulders, dresses were more modern approaches to evening archetypes with lace, sequins and frills. “It’s romantic and classic in a way, but still somehow makes it more modern with a twist. This is something that I want to include in the program,” he explained. “Also, there’s this part of lace and non-embroidered clothing; it’s not made in a couture way. It’s industrialized clothing.”
I’ve seen a lot of chatter online (and heard a bit in person) that this collection should have been more serious, it was too much of the same, it should have done a tribute collection to Cristobal Balenciaga. . I think this was presumptuous –Oh, I’m so good, I hope you’ll forget my mistakes!– But these clothes feel decidedly humble. And anyway, Demna is not a designer to take refuge in hiding someone else’s ideas. To me, the clothes were classy and playful and would delight long-time Balenciaga fans with their definition of elegance and sophistication. He is very creative and clearly has a lot to say. If it’s Cristobal-ish purity you’re after, you can find it in July’s outfit collection. (And again, I thought coats and gowns. They were. pure.)
On Sunday evening, a young designer I follow on Twitter revealed that he ran into Demna while getting off the subway.[watched] With a big smile, he took a photo of the Eiffel Tower glittering. Includes picture.. It warmed my heart because I admire that designer at his best. Compassionate, completely private and fascinated by life’s simple pleasures.
Balenciaga Fall 2023
Rachel Tashjian is the fashion news director Harper’s BazaarWorking across print and digital platforms. She was before GQHe worked as the first fashion critic and deputy editor. Garage and as a writer in Useless fair. She has written for publications including Book platform And ArtforumAnd the invitation-only newsletter is a generator of great tips.
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