What is Balenciaga without the gimmicks and theatrics of its shows? The last few ready-to-wear runway shows had models trudging through mud, walking on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and even battling a man-made blizzard.
The Balenciaga autumn/winter 2023 runway show had none of that. In fact, the venue was enveloped in toile, and what the collection notes refer to as “a blank canvas”. Of course, both the house and creative director Demna himself addressed nothing more of the controversy that they had been mired in of late. Demna may have alluded to it in a note that was placed on every seat at the show, referring to the autumn/winter 2023 collection as a result of him needing “to seek shelter for my love affair with fashion and I instinctively found it in the process of making clothes”.
What that entailed was a collection centred around fit, cut, and silhouette. The basis of the collection’s tailored introduction was a childhood memory that Demna revealed in his note:
“I was 6 years old when my parents let me have a pair of pants made for me by a neighbour tailor. I designed them, chose the fabric for them in a fabric shop, and went to the tailor twice for fittings. This was the very beginning of my love affair with clothes: what predefined my relationship with them and made me want to become a designer.”
For a collection that’s supposedly gimmick-lite, the idea of flipping trousers into suiting was nothing short of attention-grabbing. The tailored pieces at the beginning of the show were reconstructed from trousers, with waistbands inverted and repositioned as cuffs and hems of jackets. They were paired with trousers that were then doubled, layered over with another pair in a seemingly unnecessary move—it was flourish for the sake of flourish and an element that was far too literal for even Demna.
Form-skewing constructions were heightened in the collection’s more athletic ready-to-wear portion as hoodies, tracksuits, a puffer, and biker jackets were plied with inflatable elements. But once again, felt out of place, especially given the narrative that was put forth.
The collection’s dresses however, were classic Demna and were the pieces that captured a renewed energy the most. Plissé and gathered dresses were reminiscent of previous Balenciaga by Demna collections but this time, kept relatively simple. The printed variations as well as the evening proposals featured extreme rounded shoulders that reference the house’s couture creations and were beautifully done.
We’ve been so used to Demna’s runway theatrics that as a creative director, his narrative this time fell flat when set against a backdrop that served little to drive the point across. But it’s not that he’s incapable of doing so—his couture creations for Balenciaga has been all about the clothes and craftsmanship.
If anything, the autumn/winter 2023 collection and show felt like a creative that’s been rendered lost, uncomfortable and perhaps, a bit afraid.
View the full Balenciaga autumn/winter 2023 collection in the gallery below.
