Demna Gvasalia’s building of an identity for Balenciaga has happened at such a speed that there’s already a whole inventory of recognizable things the house “owns.” Seeing a pair of skintight pointy stiletto boots, a forward-sloping tailored jacket or coat, a cheesy retro floral dress, or one of his giant striped Bazaar market bags will provoke instant Pavlovian brand recognition. The ultimate art, however, is the teasing out of ideas over time, varying and adding. With Pre-Fall 2017, Gvasalia has all that fully down, too.
Fashion geeks with an eye for provenance will know that the tailoring, with its basque hip and forward-thrust shoulders, comes from Gvasalia’s first collection for the house, Fall 2016; and that the spandex-encased legs, ’70s swimwear-inspired florals, and strangulated necklines hail from the Fetish show of Spring 2017. What comes more to the fore here is Gvasalia’s knack for applying social observation and the inspiration of ordinary everyday objects to his design. In one clever instance, it’s the mere idea of a knotted headscarf, which gets deployed as tied necklines—minor to major—on everything from frilly baby bonnet hoods to jean jackets to vast padded ski jackets. In another, the wraparound cut of the satin dresses—some short, one a red evening column—originated in the cotton dressing gowns Balenciaga in-house models are given to wear between fittings.
While there’s the frisson of serious chic in these clothes—there has to be, they’re substantial purchases—there’s also a sophisticated eye for the marginally ridiculous appropriated object. Thus, there’s a new square striped bag in the shape of a padded café cushion, while the triangular one started life as a ski-shoe carrier. Both those are bound to be picked up by avant-garde trophy hunters, not to mention the jewelry: on the one hand, grand repro-Cristóbal brooches, and on the other, dangly earrings and pendants in the shape of Christmas tree baubles.
