Balenciaga Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2016

How nervous must Demna Gvasalia have been presenting his first collection for Balenciaga today in Paris’s Canal +’s former studio? We don’t know, but it didn’t particularly show in his on point collection of clothes. As a new creative director you first should work your way through as many archives as possible to understand the essence of the brand, before mixing your own DNA to it. Which he did. Mixing his eye for urban street wear and modern day style(the influence of his Vetements collective) with the classic shapes from Balenciaga‘s archives. And it seemed quite a match, to say the least.

The collection was build on couture attitudes transforming a modern, utilitarian wardrobe, the show notes red. “How to place Balenciaga’s legacy in a new context? And what is sophisticated?” Questions Gvasalia kept in mind while designing. To set the tone, the show began with many padded hip suits, slit skirts and dresses in grey and brown tones, all with the familiair hourglass silhouette. Half way through (look 8) the streetwear touch became more noticeable, with oversize puffers and bad weather outerwear. Afterwards, everything started shrinking again, showing some head-to-toe floral ensembles, how to handle the half-tuck oversized shirt (owned by many fashion editors) and we counted many accessory options, like the giant platform leather boots and exaggerated chained sunglasses. But what we liked most is that something so easy as pulled off the shoulder jackets and pushed-back necklines can give you a whole different, almost sensual, but look in a small, everyday gesture. Who doesn’t want to wear her trenches or shearlings like this too this spring?! We know we do.