Cristóbal Balenciaga is heralded as “The Master” of haute couture, even many decades after his House closed in 1968 and his death four years later. The designer’s exquisite and often radical creations—balloon hems and sack dresses among them—set the pace for what was to be expected on fashion’s highest-end runways. Christian Dior once put it well: “Haute couture is like an orchestra whose conductor is Balenciaga.
We other couturiers are the musicians, and we follow the direction he gives.” So, when Demna takes the reins on Balenciaga’s present-day couture lines, the pressure is no joke. “This couture collection is a tribute to subculture dress codes as important influences of my fashion vocabulary,” Demna wrote in the collection notes for Balenciaga Couture’s 53rd collection.
Wisely, his mood board was tacked with four staple shapes from Cristóbal’s last two decades of couture: “3/4 length sleeves, a focus on profile of silhouette and cocoon shapes, extravagant and at times eccentric headwear and fabric innovation.” These pillars informed the line’s bare bones, while Demna’s own punchy personal style tropes filled in the gaps. In the first look, a seemingly everyday T-shirt becomes luxe with silk scuba satin lining, which bolsters the silhouette’s stiff, bulbous shape.
Other tops are embellished with oil hand-painted drawings of rebellious rockers; flannel shirts employ silk tuffetage embroidery, and jackets that appear to be tied aroun.
