Demna Gvasalia Gives High Fashion a Modern Twist in Balenciaga's 50th Couture Collection
Marking the creative director’s first couture range.
“A lot of people don’t even know that Balenciaga is a 100-plus-year-old couture brand,” Demna Gvasalia explained to WWD about Balenciaga’s 50th Couture collection. Presented at 10 Avenue Georges V in France earlier today, this marks the creative director’s first couture range for the House and the first time the brand has debuted a new couture line since Cristóbal Balenciaga’s time 53 years ago.
“It was my minute of silence to the heritage of Cristóbal Balenciaga but also a moment of silence to just shut up for a minute,” Gvasalia told Vogue. “The pandemic made me take that minute of silence – or few months of silence – and really understand what I like in this ‘metier,’ as Cristóbal used to call it. And I realized it’s not about fashion—actually, I love clothes. I’ve been talking about clothes, clothes, clothes rather than fashion,” he added.
All-black sleek suits for men and women boasting intricate tailoring dominate the first part of the collection, along with tailored jackets and denim silhouettes. Other standout looks include an off-shoulder long sleeve jumpsuit with an oversized bow on the front covered in polka dots, as well as the faux fur jacket paired with mom jeans. The final ensembles take inspiration from bridal silhouettes, such as the dress-suit pant hybrid and the all-white gown with a matching full-length veil.
Watch Balenciaga’s 50th Couture show in full above.
