The fact that a sense of humor can be wrapped up in the “hit” of a seriously chic fashion idea is often overlooked. Bring forth exhibit A in Demna Gvasalia’s first Balenciaga Resort collection: a candy-striped bathrobe coat with a matching fringed stole-cum-towel thrown over one shoulder, contradictorily worn with a pair of pointy low-heeled ankle-strap shoes, and a baseball cap jammed on low over the face. What could this be, but a witty take on “resort” in its literal sense as luxury winter retreatwear yet transformed into something urban and street-clever, too?
It’s not hard to read the geographical signposts for the Balenciaga holiday destination, what with all the shirting-stripe caftans, surely somewhere in North Africa, or thereabouts? But then again, maybe not. The clever thing about Gvasalia is that he can simultaneously signal sights and accessories (his now-famous striped market bag) you would see around the poorer, immigrant areas of Paris, while making a pair of summer slides that are unmistakably based on the kind of slippers provided in luxury hotels.
Down to earth yet elevated would be the way to put it about striped cotton aprons that are recast as halter-neck sundresses, or indeed the texture of generic Parisian café chairs, which are worked into the newest bags. Perhaps he was sitting at one of those same cafés watching skateboarders one day? Surely, that’s where the supersize pants came from, a piece that will keep stylists clamoring for months.
Still, Gvasalia is a realist with an eye to modernizing non-resort types of tailoring for more of a grown-up existence, too. That’s expertly dealt with in jackets and coats with forward-thrust Balenciaga-line shoulders, updated, if you will, with Bermuda shorts.
