Left to right: AW16, Men’s RTW SS17, Resort ’17 and Women’s RTW SS17
Success seems to come easily for Demna Gvasalia. The man who brought us Vetements has already spent a little over a year settling into his new position as chief designer at Balenciaga, and the creative shows no signs of disappointing anyone just yet. Implementing codes of power dressing with sophisticated cuts, he’s harkened back to his Georgian roots while still retaining the fashion house’s unshakable heritage. More recently, the label’s SS17 collection featured spandex tights and provocative heels in yet another bold and surprising move for the designer. Gvasalia has been celebrated for his bold fashion pastiche ever since the beginning of his rise to the top, but does the man who put Juicy sweatpants on the runway for Paris haute couture fashion week really belong at a brand synonymous with sophisticated elegance?
With one year under his oversized o-ring belt, we look back on Gvasalia’s performance at Balenciaga so far.
Balenciaga Women’s RTW AW16
Balenciaga Women’s RTW AW16
Balenciaga – anything but basic
Cristóbal Balenciaga founded the Spanish house in 1919, only to close it briefly in 1968 during a movement of fashion democratisation known as the youth-quake. The designer famously said, “I am not made to dress people in the street.” On the contrary, Gvasalia is the disciple of normcore. His work is not only inspired by street style, it imitates the banal – uniforms, daily wear, the familiar wardrobe staples.
From the beginning, Balenciaga sought to create a label synonymous with luxury. Vogue took notice, lauding the designer for his use of rich and sumptuous fabrics as well as the sense of grandeur his clothes portrayed. And – weird as it might seem – that is exactly what he has in common with Gvasalia. Despite the young designer’s fascination with “the ordinary”, his clothes are far from so. The Gvasalia-brothers elevate street style with their refined cuts, using costly fabrics to create limited edition pieces. The famous (or infamous) “DHL” T-shirt that Vetements showed during its Paris show last winter is a perfect example. Made of high-end materials and sold as a limited edition item, trend analyst Aleksandra Szymanska of The Future Laboratory believes it represents “a different definition of luxury,” going on to include, “it’s about an attention-grabbing visual statement.” Demna’s vision of luxury is ironic, bold and fresh – just what the current fashion system craves.
Balenciaga Men’s RTW SS17
Balenciaga Men’s RTW SS17
Extravagant tailoring and exaggerated silhouettes
Masterful tailoring is another important element of Balenciaga’s DNA. Gvasalia’s recent menswear collection was inspired by Cristóbal’s coat with a missing sleeve, a project the late-designer intended for personal use, but never finished. As Gvasalia stumbled upon it while researching the maison’s archives, he took it upon himself to complete the unfinished work. The result was unexpected – a collection filled with broad shoulders, tight-fitting shorts and heavy brogues. While it does invoke visions of “David Byrne meets Vetements”, Gvasalia’s exploration of close-fits and loose silhouettes follows the steps of Balenciaga himself, who was probably one of the first designers in the west to appreciate the spacious and oversized.
Cristóbal Balenciaga was strikingly ahead of his time, a sentiment that is often bestowed upon Gvasalia as well. His original designs maintain their contemporaneity even when placed alongside today’s most avant-garde designs. An exhibition entitled “Game Changers”, currently on display at Antwerp’s MoMU, aims to showcase the 20th century’s most innovative designs and includes pieces created by Cristóbal Balenciaga himself. The presentation reveals that Balenciaga’s approach has much more in common with Margiela than with his peer Dior. The sense of immediacy, contemporaneity and modernity is in the DNA of the fashion house. In reality, it might be the very reason why the brand’s owners at Kering have had such difficulty in the search to find a suitable creative director.
Balenciaga Resort 2017
Balenciaga Resort 2017
The future is female
In a recent interview with Vogue, Gvasalia said that he does not intend on imitating Balenciaga’s manner. Rather, he is interested in developing upon Crostóbal’s vision of women. Unlike the succession of designers who failed at Balenciaga, he is not afraid to experiment, attempting to adjust the brand’s values to contemporary tastes. And perhaps it is this forward-thinking mindset that has the designer succeeding where others could not.
Balenciaga Women’s RTW SS17
Balenciaga Women’s RTW SS17
All images courtesy of Balenciaga.com