From the chiasmus archive: "Balenciaga. Pre-Fall 2021". Posted on May 14, 2021 *In lieu of Demna Gvasalia stepping down from Balenciaga, after ten years, with his last couture showing for the iconic fashion brand occuring on July 9th 2025. I will be posting all of my Balenciaga reviews of the last 10 years*

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(Images: Balenciaga 2021)

Demna Gvasalia’s post apocalyptic and doom inspired appeal has been, only slightly, toned down for Balenciaga Fall Pre-Fall 2021 collection, all the while our society continues to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the human death toll has been widespread.   More so the amount of people who have suffered from the virus, yet, a light at the end of the tunnel is emerging, albeit through the rushed vaccination campaigns which have been, for the most part, ad hoc and asymmetrical, with the richest nations been inoculated first sans the poorer nations.  So, with global vaccine imbalances widespread, mutations of this nasty virus are still a risk globally.  And it is this societal dichotomy that Gvasalia, who has held the tenure for Balenciaga since 2015 as their creative director, has played out very well.  After leaving Vetements, which he co-founded with his brother Guram, they’re always indulged, beneath its glamor, the subversive aspects of fashion.  It could be argued that the Georgian brothers do indeed reflect, through their designs, the darkness and light of humanity, crafted aesthetically, in which both of them have cleverly and successfully imprinted an overall visual cynicism.  Which, from its unique portrayal of style also holds a gravitating appeal.

Before the pandemic, the thrift mix-and-match styles were emerging has a clear trend, replacing the tailored modernist styles of the last 6 years, however for 2021, so far, there has been a reemergence of the avant-garde look, to which Gvasalia’s Balanciaga has balanced itself between the thrift looks and the avant-garde styles, with his latest showing maintaining the mix-and-match and avant-garde inspired ensembles.  In similarity to fellow Kering designer Alessandro Michele of Gucci fame, who, for his Spring 2021 presentation had it staged inside a mock Gucci Thrift store, Michele’s recent showing has reset itself back to its Gucci glamor in an refinement of the mix-and-match looks.  To which an sampling of Balenciaga pieces were also intermixed with Gucci’s Fall 2021 latest styles, as a testament to the bowering of styles and which could only be achieved by the two fashion brand powerhouses under the Kering umbrella.   This has also been noted with Balenciaga’s Pre-Fall  collection, whilst offering a softer tone ala Michele’s Gucci inspiration, Gvasalia’s distinct and at times dark imprint is still clearly evident. 

With 58 pieces in total, which is a larger collection for a Pre-Fall showing, indicting that some of the styles on display via the Balenciaga lookbook may end up morphing into the later Fall collection, tilting the latest array as “Feel Good” Gvasalia’s take on lightening the load with each model posing, although a cut and paste montage, in front of a global landmark, has, specifically for this collection insisted that the fabrics used are all sourced as sustainable only.  How dramatically a fashion designer can set a precedence that all fabrics be a 100% recycled, might be hard pressed in its  demand of manufacturers.  Particularly now when inflation and costs are rising.  Yet, Gvasalia has insisted that there will be no compromise on the quality and cuts and like his brother Guram of Vetements, both designers have proven that they are exceptional skilled at arranging and stylizing the fits, so the pieces look well crafted on the models within the Gvasalia template.  Leading up to Gvasalia’s first Couture showing for Balenciaga later in 2021, one can see the styles on display, such as the draped and layered black dresses towards the end of the collection, are indication that he is further honing his skills in fine tailoring. 

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(A.Glass 2021)