Vive la revolution! Off with their proverbial fashion heads. Or so says Demna Gvasalia – the brains behind VETEMENTS and newly installed head honcho at Balenciaga. He thinks the fashion system is “broken”, that it’s moving too fast and that there’s no longer time for creativity. The solution? Well, talking to Business of Fashion he said – “from the beginning we agreed that we would only produce two collections a year and we would not engage ourselves into making pre-collections… so going forward, at VETEMENTS we are shifting the seasons and not showing during the main season, but only showing our main collection during the pre-collection timing in June and January.” His brother (and partner) Guram explains – “designers are human beings who need to have some spare time to get rest and gather strength… the industrial machine sucks out their creativity, chews them up, and spits them out.” So will this translate to Balenciaga? What will it mean for the industry? We’re off to bury our heads in the sand somewhere. It’s all too much.
Photograph by Jason Lloyd-Evans backstage at VETEMENTS SS16
