Balenciaga. Ready-to-Wear Fall 2023 - Paris Fashion Week.

I have been reviewing Balenciaga shows for many years now and I was not surprised at the backlash with creative director Demna Gvasalia's very controversial use of children in his photo shoot prior to the Fall 2023 collection.  I have a brief opinion and summary piece which can be read at this post.  Personally, I do feel that Demna has been pushing the envelope with his antithesis fashion statements towards this conclusive point, and not only has he reached it, he also crossed the line.  What I do not believe, is that it was a conspiracy, sprouted by the muddled minds of right wing extremists.    However, one of the key notes to Demna's controversy, was utilizing the exploits of  YE (formally Kanye West) as a known anti-Semite, who had been building his hate speech for years prior to being cancelled by Kering, the holding company of Balenciaga, in October of this year after he had walked Demna's Spring 2023 Balenciaga show.   It all very much aligns itself as a misguided artistic statement, which has been done many times before.   When shock value is portrayed to be an artist's freedom, when in fact, if crafted with blunt motivation, is indeed a veiled attack on the establishment, in this case the fashion industry under the banner of so called 'freedom of expression'.  More times than not, it is always orchestrated as a deluded manifestation of rebellion, but never-the-less, it can be a damaging consequence for the artist over the long run.  And in this case the irony is that Kering, who owns Balenciaga is very much that multi billion dollar fashion company.   Therefor, to find redemption may not only be illusive but difficult to attain, if in Demna's case he has been, as mentioned, backlashing against an industry that he is very much part of, while at the same time portraying himself as a rebellious fixture in the fashion world.  Sooner or later you'll take it to an extreme with no or very little leeway for excuses, other than crashing from those highs.

Has Demna crashed?   It appears so.   Returning to the runway for Balenciaga's Fall 2023 collection, he has attempted to reset the iconic brand name under his tenure into a low key event within an underground Parisian carpark.  Demna's extravagant anti-fashion gimmicks and appeasing  of celebrities have all but gone, particularly in light of the Spring 2023 collection before the controversy, where a large space was filled with tons of mud, with a muddy scented cologne sprayed about.  His latest show piece was somber and minimalist in its presentation, to which Demna wrote a heartful message for the show note/s, proclaiming his love for fashion which stated when he was a young boy, that it was always his escapism and "shelter" to pursue the "art" over "entertainment".   A hard task to follow, particularly when Demna himself reveled in entertaining that exclusive crowd that used to be in attendance, with every possible gimmick he could muster.  

And very much before the controversy, with my Spring 2023 review, I did comment on how Demna's inspired stage props and Hollywood-esque entertainment of Balenciaga shows were becoming a parody of its own excess.   The Fall 2023 collection offered very little clues to the direction of Balenciaga, with slight elements of Demna's risqué and avant-garde, yet the collection attempted to pay homage to the late Cristóbal Balenciaga with Couture inspired dresses, who was always troubled by Ready-to-Wear collections, reframing from adding Ready-to-Wear to his signature brand name, maintaining Balenciaga as a house of Couture, right up until he closed his Parisian studio in 1968.  Balenciaga passed away in 1972.  And it was until 1987 when designer Michel Goma was hired to create the first Balenciaga Ready-to-Wear collection. 

Balenciaga and Demna's future appears very uncertain.   

___

(A.Glass 2023)