EXCERPT: BALENCIAGA. READY-TO-WEAR FALL 2023 - PARIS FASHION WEEK.

"...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."  

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Full review: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/2023/03/balenciaga-ready-to-wear-fall-2023.html

(A.Glass 2023)

Pre-Fall 2023 review soon.