At first, a model only stumbles very gently, later her feet get tangled in the hem, her robes don’t fit through the door. Until the model in the gorgeous wedding dress seems completely unable to walk, taking three steps forward and two back – in excruciating infinity. The embarrassment turns into shame until the last look has finally squeezed out the door. A bewildered-looking audience applauds, and luckily most of the guests aren’t at a Balenciaga show for the first time. You know that things can quickly get uncomfortable with this fashion brand.
Guests include Berlin rapper Ufo361, Kris Jenner and granddaughter North West, Offset, Anna Wintour, Edward Enningful, Róisín Murphy, Guram Gvasalia, and Kering boss François-Henri Pinault. Following last year’s critically acclaimed couture debut by Balenciaga Creative Director Demna, the second presentation took place in the house’s original couture salons on Avenue George V.
The rooms, bathed in a kind of vintage white, act like a projection screen for the textile utopias of Demna, one of the most hyped designers of our time. At the beginning of the show, the looks are again shown as black rubber body suits, topped with veils that have become helmets (a collaboration with Mercedes-AMG F1 Applied Science). As the show progresses, the designs become more and more gorgeous. They develop in colors, shapes and precious materials, yet they all seem to have been imported from the digital world. Even when the masks fall and prominent faces like Kim Kardashian, Nicole Kidman or Naomi Campbell can be seen, the bodies sometimes seem attached.
Balenciaga
Kim Kardashian and Nicole Kidman, among other celebrities, presented Balenciaga’s couture gowns.
In the course of this fashion performance, the skills of the acclaimed designer Demna are in full bloom, with insane creations somewhere between streetwear and the highest art of tailoring. In addition to expansive dresses, whose classic silhouettes are broken up by broad shoulders or crewnecks, sculptural T-shirts can be seen that heave at the stomach, as if frozen the moment a hand reaches under them. They are worn by men who don’t really belong in couture because it’s officially reserved for women to this day. Faux fur is also on display, Demna has a lot of animal-free materials – Balenciaga even has its own department for the development of the same. More than a quarter of this couture collection also consists of upcycled garments.
Balenciaga
The number of celebrities was also high among the guests, including Róisín Murphy and Amber Valletta.
Waists seem to be squeezed into corsets, they seem so narrow, especially on men. Some dresses and trains form humps. Clock faces adorn ears and necks. The handbags carried by the models are Bang & Olufsen WiFi speakers. The soundtrack of the show can be heard from the “speaker bags”. Yes, and then the disastrous finale: a parody of every designer’s nightmare when their models trip over trains on the runway, get caught in skirt hems and fall out of high heels. A few minutes after the “terrible” end of the show, the audience also catches up. It will also remember Demna’s second couture show as an outstanding fashion event.