Should Denma leave Balenciaga?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4jWLB2VnA
Good stuff to think about for the ever interesting Fashion Roadman
Fashion Roadman
YouTube
Should Demna Leave Balenciaga?
In today's video I give a critical review of Balenciaga's Pre-Fall 2024 runway show / collection by Demna Gvasalia.
For out-of-towners, Los Angeles has the quality of the surreal. The palm trees, canyons, and golden light, the Facetuned faces and super-toned bodies, the cult of Erewhon, the Hollywood sign. Demna, Balenciaga’s Georgian creative ...
19 Replies
Genuinely demna hate seems to be the only way you engage with high fashion, I have no opinion on him at balenci and I wasn’t the biggest fan of this show, but it’s a weird vibe for that to be the only type of runway content you engage with or at least bring up in conversation here
A. This is not my video, though I think he makes good points
B. I'm a big fan of Undercover, Wales Bonner, and Acne runways from the last year, but nobody else is talking about them either?
C. I've talked about Rick Owens, so if you're stalking through my messages, do it better
Yes I know that
I’m not reading through your message history, I’m just remembering every time the balenciaga or vetements conversation comes up
Post about stuff you’re excited about more
I have maybe talked about it once or twice, and like, not adding to the conversation here, when you already said you have no opinion on his balenciaga work
Pretending it’s not your thing when you have previously admitted it’s your thing is lame
Sorry to derail your valuable discussion though
Ah, there's the stalking
Okay man whatever, just maybe consider what energy you’re putting out
And why
Anyway you're bringing nothing useful to this so I've blocked you for both our sakes
The thesis of this video seems to be "demna had a beautifully coherent 1990s LA riff but I'm really bored with the casting". I'm probably misinterpreting that, so please help me understand if I'm not on the same page as ya
This seems reductive, and Demna continues to have some of the most interesting and new shapes in the industry while also having a consistent viewpoint. There is so much emphasis in the video on it being "boring", which seems like pretty hack criticism
I guess in retrospect, those two paragraphs have some contradiction. The criticism is so scattershot I need some help really understanding what the actual thesis is
LOOOOL what
god if looking through someone's message history to find something i remember them saying is stalking than i've stalked like half the people in this discord
A few points that seemed salient to me:
- He does find the idea of the show fun and interesting.
- The struggle between what he's saying his work is about, and where he's making it/what he's making, and the meme/hype culture around it that's being promoted is an issue.
- Using celebrities instead of models for the runways takes focus from the clothes, not just because they can't walk
- The structure of the shows are very similar, with the more interesting bits confined to the end (compared to the oversized hoodies etc front and centre)
- Where does the work go from here?
- The most interesting pieces in the collections, the shoes, aren't something he's brought to Balenciaga.
FR is someone who likes Denmas past work, but feels he's at the wrong place to make his best stuff.
The question at the end from someone else is a good one, who /should/ be next, if he went?
What a pathetic response
Why even start a discussion around Balenciaga if you can't handle someone pointing out your bias
maybe it's just me mistaking irony for intentionality but the use of celebrities in this show makes so much sense!! it's like,, such a simple surface-level realization that LA is immersed in celebrity culture and therefore a show making fun of it should cast tons of celebrities
Yeah, I can see it on that level for sure. Does come with the aforementioned risk that they overshadow the actual clothing/don't show it in the best way you could.
i mean sure? but the presentation, atmosphere, and cultural context of a collection means just as much as the clothes themselves. it's super reductive to only focus on the latter imo
especially for a brand like balenciaga and a designer like demna that (based on my limited understanding) is so invested in that context
That was one of six of the bigger points I noted from the video. Can't say it was the main thrust of the critique, just something I noted.
it's a very easy conclusion to reach imo which casts doubts on the rest of their critique. like if they don't understand that then what DO they understand
but alas that's the limit of what i can say without actually having watched the video
Yeah I just did a quick summary, not sure how well I captured a half hour video there. I might be making it sound more dismissive than it is, the guy likes the work in general, and definitely understands the history.