In 1968 Cristóbal Balenciaga retired from the fashion world, from that moment on Balenciaga‘s haute couture never saw the light of day, until yesterday.
Demna Gvasalia the creative mind behind the Kering Group-owned fashion house – in fact, presented her first couture collection for Balenciaga.
Staged inside the halls of the historic address of Cristóbal Balenciaga completely renovated but keeping however the originality of the time, at 10 avenue Georges V in Paris, the show was present a few guests including Kanye West, Bella Hadid, Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful, Lewis Hamilton, James Harden and many others.
The show begins in absolute silence, somberly and immediately we understand that the genre is absolutely insignificant: we immediately see a black suit walk down the runway – a tribute to Cristobal who used to open his shows with all-black suits to make the audience focus exclusively on the silhouette – then come women’s and men’s suits, tailored jackets in denim – a fabric stressed to the nth power for the occasion – exaggerated cuts, bold and angular looks, headgear that seems to come from a future that looks to the past, heels for both her and him, denoting precisely that absence of the concept of gender that Gvasalia wants to break down completely.
Faux fur jackets paired with jeans, crocodile leather pants with turtlenecks, some models wore knee-high boots and bags that recalled the paper bags of sneaker shops, Balenciaga’s couture represented the vision of its creative director who chose to combine the ethos of the maison founded in 1917 by the “master of all couturiers” with the now established aesthetic that has positioned Balenciaga in the gota of the contemporary fashion system.
The show closed in the same disturbing way as it had opened: in total silence, a bride with a veil covering her entire figure, paraded among the phones lined up and ready to immortalize everything and among the applause of those lucky people who witnessed the return of Balenciaga in haute couture.
Below you can see the entire Balenciaga show.
