Under new director Demna Gvasalia the label has elevated Vetements’s ironic-luxe streetwear aesthetic
There were many strange things about Balenciaga’s catwalk in Paris: the inflatable puffer jackets, which swelled high above the shoulders to give models the silhouette of Gru from Despicable Me; the lurid blue stage set inspired by the European parliament; credit cards worn as earrings.
Strangeness is what Balenciaga stands for under the designer Demna Gvasalia. There are traces of subtle meanings layered into what Gvasalia does – the visual joke of those inflatable jackets, for instance, is a reference to the cocoon shaped taffeta evening coats in which Cristóbal Balenciaga was dressing his clients 75 years ago – but weirdness is the overpowering top note.
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