Balenciaga S/S 09 Paris

[dior_couture1245]

Incredible!!! Nicholas, you are the best! I love the silhouettes, I LOVE the fabrics, I love the accessories, I love the menswear, I love the colored lighting, I love the carpet....it's all perfect!

[FashionPower]

The shoes are KINDA WEIRD
I love the carpet and the futuristic mood but some pieces are really hideous
And I still don't understand why he always have to show on the runway the same outfit with different colours

[mackos]

I don't know why but it's slowly growing on me, who knows, maybe I will like it And I'm in love with that dress, it's beautiful!


catwalking

[Andymoon]

I love the textures, but being honest I'm not feeling it. Leggings over the shoes are not a good idea.

[dior_couture1245]

I can't wait for a video of some sort and I can't wait to hear what Nicholas has to say about this collection!

Actually, I have to say the shoes aren't my favorite...I'm not really a fan of the bulbous stuff on the soles...

[BerlinRocks]

is it a good sign that i'm liking the details more than the general looks ?!

you always need time people say to sometimes really appreciate a piece of art - isn't it how fashion media describe ghesquiere ? - and look at it a long time. but sometimes, from a cold and first sight you just don't enjoy this piece of art and don't want to go further ....
with this collection, i just don't want to go further .... though i'm more enojying these first passages.

i still have some question : why some of you say tacky when seeing glitters in milan and there say fabulous because of paris and balenciaga ?

the shoes looks like 2025 HighHeelsDiscoGlitterNikeAir

[MissAnia]

I'm not really sure what to say... I dislike most of pieces from this collection but there are a very few nice ones..

[Mutterlein]

Originally Posted by Meg

That said, I don't know why Cathy Horyn is praising his pulling tights over the shoes, when Doo.Ri was doing that two years ago for the same effect/reason.

Look closer, you'll notice that it's more than a styling trick, which is all that Doo Ri did (and probably thought of by a stylist she hired). These stockings are actually designed into the shoe. Possibly they're an accoutrement (like Prada's troublesome footies) or maybe it's actually fused. I smell a trend for conspicuous and integrated sock fashions.

Amazing collection, as relentless as before. Ghesquire is a futurist, always has been and always will be, and it's coming to a head with this collection. It's perhaps one of the most literal interpretations and yet, as result of the styling, it's some of the most approachable. His plundering of science fiction lexicon is tireless and as cliche as it could be (like in the way Gareth Pugh approaches it) it doesn't suffer from it. You get distracted by all the alien glitz that your forget that these pieces are not fabricated in the future but are made here on earth in the present. And that realization is stunning. It's clearly evident he's putting his atelier to use and what better way to approach construction and design then using a concept based off the unknown and yet-to-be-dreamed aesthetics of a world of tomorrow.

There's a maturity here that was absent from his earlier shows (2001-2004), the threads have recently been revived on the forum. He established his sci-fi look, a nod to his adolescent yearnings, and they were executed impeccably but with a strong undertone of sex and youth. These recent collections and especially this one is much more calm, much more collected. In a sense it's less Alaia and Montana than before. It doesn't scream and shout the way a Christopher Kane collection might (who owes much of his aesthetic to Ghesquire and borders on derivative). You are able to envision it on someone older than 30, for once. Maybe Maggie Cheung and Charlotte Gainsbourg are getting older.

This collection is not obvious in that there are clear and digestible pieces immediately craving your ownership. They force you to think, they require you to truly evaluate the context in which they will become a part of your life. This is the same quality that permeates Ghesquire's work from the earlier part of the decade and it's no surprise that it's those collections that are constantly being referenced now- 5 years later. There's some currency in thinking about the future.

[Thefrenchy]

The menswear is just great, i'll start saving for a jacket or the pants. Goddd, the pants are soo good

I love everything in #18 (minus the woman's look)
#20, perfect suits, love the women's pants
#26, love the pants again
Not a fan of the dresses in #28 and #30

I'm a bit (ok, realllly) disappointed in the shoes, not wearable
but i love those little clutches/bags

[TheVeed]

So alien-chic

[AnaBGD]

After seeing the detail shots I'm starting to like it more and more, I think I'll have to see it in editorials to fully appreciate it. I guess I expected too much after last season which I immediately loved...

[FogUponLA]

I still need to take it all in...

I think the problem I have with this collection is that it lacks the architectual strength that has been at Balenciaga for the past 4-5 seasons ( and of course before that when Cristobal was around ). I'm glad there has been so much interest in Nicholas' work this past week on the forum because I noticed so much of his own innovation has been re-hashed for this collection rather than relying on the Balenciaga archives. He's taking it in a completely new direction so I'll have to let that absorb for a bit. Maybe he's finally comfortable relying on his own strengths? The details are stunning and I'm so glad he's focussing on accessories and that Balenciaga is growing once again. I rememeber he mentioned this in an interview with Suzy Menkes last season. I don't really like the shoes, but every season, footwear is a hit-or-miss at Balenciaga for me.

[clocked]

now that I've seen the details....i want so much of it, even the meanswear!

[Street_a_Licious]

wow. i actually like that! those jackets are killer IMO.

wearable futurism.

[kinkexplosion]

I love the drapes!

Nothing really new though...

I wish Ghesquiere would go back to something raw and different like what he did for S/S 04 or F/W 04...

I find the shoes weird too...