bonyadi magazine
The Spanish luxury house Balenciaga marked its return to the runway with the presentation of its FW/23 collection. The show was the first since an ad campaign by the brand caused scandal in 2022
thisisyung.com/balenciaga-winter-2023-the-art-of-making-clothes
These issues convinced creative director Demna Gvasalia in 2022 to go back to the drawing board and return to the fundamental elements of her design vision. The show, held inside the Carrousel de Louvre, Paris' iconic underground shopping mall amid giddy tourists, saw the playful looks of Guasalia and Balenciaga rise from the ashes of a disastrous year
Balenciaga's Winter 23 collection was in many ways a relaunch for the brand. Eager to keep things simple, and with all the attention on show, the designer ditched his usual mega-set show and decided to focus on the clothes. Gvasalia expressed her love for fashion and put it in the foreground. "Fashion has become a kind of entertainment, but often that part overshadows its essence, which is in shapes and volumes, silhouettes, how to create relationships between the body and fabric, how to create lines on the shoulder and armholes, how to dress. is located They have the ability to change us
Since his appointment as creative director, Gvasalia has had numerous celebrities on his shows. The Kardashians became a staple at Balenciaga shows, but now, there wasn't a celebrity in sight. Instead, the show's audience was made up of all sorts of people, no superstars. That said, the star of the show was the ensemble, which opened in a perfectly tailored black double-breasted suit. The tailoring was deconstructed and reconstructed, the trousers had a reverse waist at the edges
With air forms sewn into their linings, biker jackets, zip-up hoodies, tracksuits and puffer jackets were reworked to transform the body and hint at extreme sports. Silk dresses are draped and dramatically asymmetrical, suggesting new volumes
Floral dresses were made from leather and textiles, while leather was also used to make trench coats. Mini tracksuits came in sweater dresses and were reconfigured to accentuate the shoulders to create a rounded silhouette
Gvasalia evaluated the Huge Bag as well as the Crush Bag, rendering both in soft leather. The Biker Boot was inspired by motocross boots and featured extreme sports details
Gvasalia seeks shelter
After the scandal, Balenciaga and its designer sought shelter. Brand kept quiet and only responded when necessary. At Balenciaga's Winter 23 show, Gvasalia was nowhere to be seen, well, he didn't come out after the show, instead, he spent his time talking to the press. “For the past month or two, I've needed to seek refuge in my love affair with fashion, and instinctively found it in the process of making clothes,” the designer wrote in her show notes. It reminded me once again of its amazing power to make me feel happy and truly express myself. That's why fashion for me is no longer considered a hobby, but the art of making clothes
