Balenciaga Fall 2016 - Runway Review
March 7, 2016
Demna Gvasalia presented his first collection for Balenciaga in Paris’s 15th Arrondissement. Mixing shapes from Cristobal Balenciaga‘s archive with contemporary fashion pieces like puffer jackets and jeans, Gvasalia worked to fuse his streetwise aesthetic with that of the house’s founder. Held in the former studio of Canal+, the runway was a square box with foam-padded walls and the soundtrack was so loud the room practically vibrated for guests like fellow designers Alessandro Michele of Gucci and Jacquemus’s Simon Porte Jacquemus.
Show notes on each seat extolled the virtues of couture and of Mr. Balenciaga’s famous shapes, defining this collection as “a reimagining of the work of Cristobal Balenciaga—a wardrobe of absolute contemporaneity and realism imbued with the attitude of haute couture. A translation, not a reiteration. A new chapter.” The show opened with a section of padded hip suits, skirting, and dresses, each with an imposed hourglass silhouette. Most were in gray or tan checks and worn with thigh-high boots that echoed the styles shown on Vetements’s runway. Balenciaga’s cocoon shape was reimagined as anoraks in cobalt and kelly green. Many tops and jackets were pulled off the shoulder, creating a rounded shape on the sleeves. Multi-print floral scarf dresses were worn with candy cane–striped tights, followed by full head-to-toe floral ensembles worn with coordinating floral boots.
