There’s no faking it when a label turns women on—all you had to do was visit the Balenciaga store on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré this week to witness the instant conversion of fashion editors to Demna Gvasalia’s first collection. The place was practically a convention of industry insiders, each fixated on homing in on a floral printed dress, an oversize trenchcoat, a striped Market bag, or a pair of bejeweled pumps. In his second show, it may have been no coincidence that Gvasalia was turned to think about the motivations behind that fashion fetishism, the drive to possess a particular object and the thrill of stalking out in it. When you’re playing at this level, the stakes are high—the premiere league of designers belongs to those who can show women something they’ve never quite seen before, but leaves them panting for it.
Well, Gvasalia joined that league today, by risking the use of spandex, the synthetic stretch fabric that was invented by DuPont in 1958. Spandex takes intense color and print brilliantly, shrink-wraps the body, and, as he proved, can drape in a kinkily slinky, glamorous way. For many a year, stretch has been shunned in high fashion, except in the case of the dreaded athleisure trend. Safe to say, Balenciaga’s use of spandex had nothing to do with sport.
In a thought process that led on from last season’s stirrup pants, he encased the entire lower body, pointy stilettos to hip, in single colors and bright, Lilly Pulitzer–type retro florals. In a passing reference to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s swathed couture gowns, he swathed the upper body in glam evening tops—part ’80s Krystle Carrington à la Dynasty, but wholly contemporary-looking.
There were shoulders, too. Needless to say, Gvasalia’s reinvention of the oversize silhouette has been powerful enough to set a trend running. This time, he went further, inserting a whalebone rod across the shoulders of trenchcoats and boxy jackets. To own a look, you need to innovate. It might be a long step too far for normal people, but that’s surely the point. There are extremists who will gladly follow anything he does.
Interestingly though, the Gvasalia knack is that his avant-garde instincts are grounded in street practicality. Last season, he did that with off-the-shoulder ski jackets. The Spring updates were a couple of witty inflatable gilets. But then? Enter a useful red nylon rainproof parka, with a hood tied, head-scarf-wise, under the chin. The latex and patent leather capes that ended the show were the final “fetish” punchline guaranteed to stimulate hundreds of requests for editorial shoots. But more important yet is the fact that he is also a designer who is contributing clothes that will really be worn on the street.
