Balenciaga Winter 24 Show
Hi, I thought to record this voicemail as a sort of introduction for the next show.
As you know, I like to question things that matter to me through my work, and some of the questions I have been thinking about recently are: What is luxury? What is fashion, and why does it even matter? Who do I do what I do for? Is fashion enough? In a world oversaturated by content, is anything ever enough? What is enough? The important part is not necessarily finding answers, but the process of questioning in itself.
Luxury is, by definition a sort of scarcity, something that is not infinitely available. What seems to be truly rare and finite right now is, actually, creativity itself. I believe that creativity has secretly become a new form of luxury.
I wanted this show to represent a link between the past and the future of Balenciaga as a house based on creative value. It starts with silhouettes and themes directly inspired by the legacy of Cristóbal and evolves into further experimentation with the ideas that make up my body of work: the rethinking of the concept of beauty, the forging of an immediately recognizable style, and the consideration of how the body interacts with garments.
This collection is about the aesthetic that I have been evolving in fashion for exactly ten years now. It is about identifying with and belonging to this aesthetic. It is also about the fashion that matters to me. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.
Demna
READY-TO-WEAR
Cristóbal Balenciaga-inspired dresses with “hip-aulette” construction (Shoulder pads sewn into the hip).
Maxi faux-fur coats treated with resin for an aged effect, raw-cut hems.
Super-fluid, super-deconstructed tailoring. (Pieces here are new additions to garde-robe.)
Leather Balenciaga label trompe-l’oeil brooches. Frozen drape dresses.
Suspended garment dresses, made out of a variety of repurposed wardrobe staples.
New suits. Zip-up hooded all-purpose jackets, with matching pants.
Outerwear jackets lined with leather; tracksuits, bombers, and puffer jackets that come with matching skirts.
Vareuse tops, made out of inverted trousers, informed by an original Cristóbal Balenciaga piece – La Vareuse.
Different types of parkas elongated to be worn as coats.
Multi-waistband pants. Balenciaga dust bags, backpacks, and nylon gym bags upcycled into tops, skirts, and dresses.
Trompe-l’oeil layering; lace stockings are prints in reality.
Work-in-progress taped-together garments. 1-minute designs. Various clothing items thrown together and sewn as one new garment.
Example: 3 hoodies combined to make a dress, the lowermost being inverted so that its sleeves create a mermaid tail (this is a reinterpretation of the iconic Balenciaga bubble dress).
Another: pieces of lingerie constructed to form a gown.
ACCESSORIES
Face-shield eyewear. Single-mold injection acetate with ear openings.
Coolest beanie ever. Pulls down over the eyes to give an attitude, but it is still possible to see.
Over-stonewashed and super-minimal all-day leather bags. Multiple sizes.
Hands-free phone holders. Phone case with a heavy bangle attached.
Neoclassic bags. Expanded offering of the Rodeo line. Added utility. Megascarfs.
All-day nylon shoppers.
Essex bags. Combining maximal aesthetics and textures, with new “B” hardware and faux python, croc, and leopard print embossing or lining.
Bikerglove clutches and bags, upcycled from deadstock Alpinestars material.
Ripped-tights pantashoes.
Deconstructed superlight, flat derby shoes.
Essex knee-high boots. Same aesthetic mix (metal, motif, colors) as Essex bags.
Louis XV slippers, with an exaggerated bow appliqué on the front.
Monoblock structured wader boots.
SHOW
The show occurs at Les Invalides, under a set of screens tracking a narrative timeline from morning to night over natural and electronic landscapes. As this progresses, depictions shift from actual to artificial–or somewhere in between the two states. Editing, splicing, content, sharing, scrolling: each element and more plays across the monitors. The soundtrack is composed by BFRND and features high-energy rhythms, hypnotic melodies, and voices turned into synths.
In the Philippines, Balenciaga is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., and is located at Greenbelt 5 and Shangri-La Plaza East Wing. Visit ssilife.com.ph or follow @ssilifeph on Instagram for more information.