Demna Gvasalia sparks a fresh start for Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week

Combining codes from youth culture with an experimental silhouette, Gvasalia embarked on a quest for newness
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Karen Dacre6 March 2016

An approachable new age for luxury fashion was unveiled in Paris today as Demna Gvasalia presented his debut collection for Balenciaga.

Opening the fifth day of the city’s fashion spectacle with his much anticipated debut for the prestigious and notoriously exclusive French house, Paris’s new golden boy spoke up for a new generation with a collection which resonated with more than just the high fashion consumer.

Riding high on the success of Vetements - the-of-the-moment label Gvasalia creates in collaboration with a collective of Paris based designers- Kering's new signing repurposed familiar items such a ski jackets and oversized laundry bags.

The idea was to start a conversation with consumers through the inclusion of items that already existed in their wardrobes whilst ploughing a new path for the house, founded by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1937. It worked beautifully.

A model walks the AW16 runway
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Rex

Combining codes from youth culture - logos, denim and punkish earrings - with an experimental new silhouette, Gvasalia embarked on a quest for newness.

For the clothes this meant voluminous puffa jackets - printed with the Balenciaga logo, ski pants, oversized shirts and trench coats.

The designer, whose work for Vetements has seen him evolve into something of an agenda setter where key fashion trends are concerned, also offered up patent boots with slanted heels and patchwork floral print blouson dresses - certain to be knocked off up and down the high street come the autumn.

A model walks the AW16 runway 
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Rex

Sportswear aside - there is nothing remotely ‘Balenciaga’ about a logo print t-shirt - there was much that celebrated the house legacy on offer. Of course, this was no retrospective.

Experimenting with shape and the notion of 360 silhouette - a long time signature of the house - Gvasalia offered up cocoon shaped tailoring and made much of a basque neckline which ran throughout the show.

He also set to expland on the typically Balenciaga methodoly of clothes and their collection to our mood. “Attitude is so important” noted the designer backstage, “it's about creating a personality”.

A model walks the AW16 runway 
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Rex

Accordingly, what was on offer today was not a collection of head to toe luxury fashion looks but individual items which are offered to the consumer in the hope that she wears them in whatever way she chooses. While expensive and in no way approachable to those without serious money to burn, Gvasalia collections are about making a connection through something which is familiar. This presentation was no exception with denim jackets and trench coats given new life.

In what was a refreshing conclusion to proceedings, Gvasalia cut a relaxed figure as he accepted congratulations backstage. Wearing a black logo t-shirt, trainers and a baseball cap, he spoke of the quest for change. “You look to the past to find a future” he said, “it's the only way to truly connect”.

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