July 9, 2025 |
Demna’s tenure at Balenciaga will be remembered for a decade-long run of catwalk showstoppers. The apocalyptic arena submerged in water; the man-made blizzard in response to the Ukraine war; the runway drenched in piles of mud the size of small houses; that brilliant is-it-or-isn’t-it a fashion show staged on the red carpet that preluded a Demna-fied episode of The Simpsons.
It feels apt, though, that the boundary-shattering designer – whose collections have continuously challenged the notions of luxury with a wink and a nudge, celebrating style born on the street with blazing, uncompromising glory – chose to close his chapter at the house in a quieter setting, inside the confines of the maison’s couture salon at 10-12 Avenue George V. It was Demna, after all, who resurrected the house’s couture studios in 2021; the first designer to pick up the mantle from Cristóbal Balenciaga himself, who shuttered his couture salon in 1968. He stripped back the salon’s exterior, dirtying its white walls and laying down a greyed carpet as if the space had been untouched since Cristóbal’s departure, like Demna was picking up where the couturier had left off.
And in many ways, he did. That first couture outing saw Demna echo Cristóbal silhouettes in big-shouldered, crumbled taffeta frocks and utility jackets that migrated into ballgowns. But it also was a vehicle for Demna to craft the perfect T-shirt (the garment for which Demna first made a name for himself at Vetements) from padded silk, or where he could treat a hoodie with the same attention Cristóbal would an opulent dress.
This dance between the two designers reached a divine finale this afternoon, the last time he will be at Balenciaga before taking the reins at Gucci. “I have come as close as possible to being satisfied in this endless pursuit of impossible perfection – the defining ethos of Cristóbal Balenciaga,” wrote the designer in his show notes. The names of Demna’s Balenciaga atelier and the models on the catwalk – which included Kim Kardashian, Isabelle Huppert and Naomi Campbell – were read aloud as the soundtrack, which eventually broke into Sade’s No Ordinary Love.
There it was, Cristóbal’s sculptural hand, echoed in sharp suiting with lapels that curled up the neck with vampirish flair. And there was Demna’s curious couture-ification of everyday togs, like silk taffeta bomber jackets and seamless puffer coats, or a one-size-fits-all business suit, crafted by Neapolitan tailors, that was modelled on the build of a bodybuilder (who walked the show) but looked great slouched over the rakish frames of a procession of models that followed the giant gent.
Both dress codes of the Bourgeoisie and Old Hollywood glamour led Demna’s design hand. Most impressive were Kardashian’s “mink” coat, a tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, which was entirely embroidered from feathers. Or Eva Herzigová’s statuesque red-carpet wonder, its buttercup yellow silk gorgeously complimenting a canary yellow diamond necklace by Lorraine Schwartz, also a nod to Taylor’s love of bling.
It’s interesting that Demna’s closing moments at Balenciaga reeked of total glamour. A passing of the baton to his successor, Pierpaolo Piccioli, perhaps, who is revered for his sense of romance and colour? Or a taste for where Demna may steer Gucci under his creative direction? “Fashion lives on the edge of tomorrow – driven not by what we know but the thrill of discovering what comes next,” says the designer. If it’s anything like the last 10 years, what tomorrow brings for Demna will be truly monumental.
Photography courtesy of Balenciaga.
