Yesterday, Balenciaga presented its Spring 2024 collection with a 5-minute short video in which, in the pouring rain, the eye of the (motionless) camera captures “passersby”, who are obviously wearing garments from the upcoming Spring from the Kering Group-owned fashion house.

It all took place on the sidewalk in front of 10 Avenue George V in the heart of Paris, which is the address of Balenciaga’s first couture store, which (re)opened its doors in July 2022.
In reality, however, its history starts much further back.
For it was right there that back in 1937, 53 years before its reopening, the Spanish master of Haute Couture and founder of the maison Cristóbal Balenciaga, started it all by opening his first store, later closed in 1968.

The Balenciaga Couture Store is located inside the most famous triangle in Paris, the one between the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde, a historic place in the French capital, where the fashion house directed by Demna wanted to give continuity to the legacy of its founder by reopening and giving a new life to that store full of meaning.

Two floors, one dedicated to women and the other to men, where the very essence of Balenciaga is enhanced by bringing together traditions, made up of classic craftsmanship and workmanship, with the most innovative techniques.

“The Couture Store concept is a gateway to Couture fashion, which remains to obscure universe, especially for the younger generation. In this new store, products, bespoke services and retail excellence are a reinvention of the experience for our customers. It is exciting to be able to present this level of craftsmanship, creativity and savoir-faire made in France at our historic address”, these were the words of Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit at the presentation of the project.

Today, Demna makes his Balenciaga Couture Store a symbol of the fashion house’s philosophy as well as the focal point of his narrative where past, present and future meet and history takes shape as it is made. 

If Valentino announced last week that it will present its next Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2023/24 collection within the striking location of the Château de Chantilly, Saint Laurent will not be outdone.

According to reports from WWD, the brand headed by Anthony Vaccarello will present its next men’s collection on June 12, with a show in the beautiful setting of Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, in the area known as the Kulturforum.

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After a long 5-year closure due to a major renovation by the international firm David Chipperfield Architects, founded by the British architect of the same name in 1985, the Neue Nationalgalerie reopened its doors to the public in 2021.

The marvelous structure, opened in 1968 and designed by German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe -entirely made of steel and glass – is undoubtedly one of the most dazzling and successful examples of German modernism with an entrance hall completely surrounded by glass walls and a truly imposing appearance despite being developed on a single floor. The ceiling, on the other hand, is a huge metal grid. The whole building tells the philosophy of its creator very well, where the overwhelming gives way to the essential.

The collection housed within the Neue Nationalgalerie is dedicated to 20th-century art, with works also from the late 19th century up to and including precisely the entire 20th century. In fact, masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Giorgio De Chirico, Salvador Dali and Paul Klee, just to name a few, are on display.

As for the show of Saint Laurent’s upcoming Spring/Summer men’s collection, the only thing certain is that the date is set for June 12 at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. 

Bottega Veneta‘s project entitled “The Square”, a journey to discover the world’s cultures through art, which inspires dialogue and instills curiosity, celebrating local artists and artisans, continues.
After stops in Dubai in 2022 and Tokyo, the Italian fashion house this time lands in Brazil, specifically in São Paulo, paying homage to the naturalized Italian-born Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, and her Casa de Vidro.

The Casa de Vidro was Lina Bo Bardi’s first ever building project, nestled in the lush vegetation of the Morumbi neighborhood in São Paulo, it was the architect’s residence until her death in 1992.

Achillina Bo aka Lina Bo Bardi, was born in Rome in 1914 and, after graduation began her career in Gio Ponti’s studio. She moved to Brazil in 1946 along with her husband Pietro Maria Bardi, where she became a Brazilian citizen in 1951, the same year in which she finished the construction of her first building as an architect, precisely the Casa de Vidro.

She would become one of the most influential personalities of Brazilian modernism, and would also be a prolific artisan making jewelry, costumes, furniture and stage sets throughout her life.

“It is truly inspiring to meet here with artists of different generations, different disciplines, and from all over Brazil to celebrate the legacy of Lina Bo Bardi and the richness of Brazilian culture. Bottega Veneta is synonymous with timeless style. With The Square São Paulo, we recognize how Lina’s ideas and aesthetics remain relevant today, a testament to the capacity for change inherent in design and culture”, these are the words of Bottega Veneta Creative Director Matthieu Blazy.

The initiative, personally supervised by Blazy and curated by Mari Stockler, will be structured in four thematic paths that will then be further explored in as many four volumes, brought together in a limited edition box set.
Within the structure, other works created by other contemporary Brazilian artists will be placed alongside the architect’s creations in a dialogue between the past, present and future of the South American country’s creativity and culture.

The Casa de Vidro opens its doors to the public today, May 26, and will be open to visitors until June 3.

Disappeared at the age of only 54 in March 2020, Katsuya Kamo was a mad and delicate genius, a balancer of the extreme and a devotee of fleeting, ephemeral beauty. Kamo was a Japanese milliner, hairstylist, makeup artist, and artist, but none of these definitions really give an idea of the artistic caliber and who Katsuya Kamo really was.

Katsuya Kamo was born in Fukuoka in 1965, in what was then still rural post-World War II Japan, and began his interest in the world of fashion, design, and hairstyling at a very young age.

He then began his training as a hairstylist by working alongside a local hairdresser before moving to Paris, where he became assistant to Japanese stylist Tetsuya Tamura, thus giving vent to his love of fashion-his initial inspirations were Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto to understand-which would later lead him to work with the most important stylists and fashion houses globally.
In 1996, he decided to return home, to Japan, to Tokyo to be exact, where he began his collaborations with Junya Watanabe and Jun Takahashi, developing personal and working relationships with the two cult Japanese designers and curating hairstyling for Comme des Garçons and Undercover.

In his career as a hairstylist – thanks to his unique and inimitable approach, fervent imagination, incredible technical ability and desire for extreme experimentation in all aspects (shapes, colors, materials, etc.) – he will work with the biggest names in international fashion. He will curate hairstyles and headpieces for the fashion shows of Fendi, Chanel, Haider Ackermann and Maison Martin Margiela.

In an interview with Vogue, Ackermann spoke this way about Kamo: “No conversation was needed, no words. Silently we would work harmoniously and I would observe where his artistic sensibility would bring me, a perfect balanced world of grace and insanity. The best play companion one could dream”.

Katsuya Kamo was everything and the opposite of everything. He kept the punk spirit alive and at the same time his work was an expression of delicacy, flair, imagination and transient beauty. His creations in fact “existed” the time of a runway, but of one thing one can be sure, Kamo’s work is destined to remain forever.