The fall collection Nicolas Ghesquière showed for Balenciaga on Tuesday showcased his stunning cuts, sculpted or seamed in highly distinctive ways. Here, an off-the-shoulder dress in a sharp, sexy shape that zooms around dangerous curves, worn with a diamanté parure.
Balenciaga: Among the delights of these protracted fashion seasons are those rare occasions when one can anticipate the extraordinary, as at Balenciaga. On Tuesday morning, Nicolas Ghesquière delivered spectacularly on the communal hopes of his audience with a collection that attained the highly unusual: It was on trend, yet light-years ahead of the pack.
Eschewing last season's short, structured florals for something darker and more mature — a mandate the designer maintains came only from himself and not from a higher house power — Ghesquière went ladylike lavished with jewelry. But hold the ho-hums; he warped the notion of lady to the staunchest extreme via his remarkable way with cut. Here, a black dress becomes a lesson in sultry geometry; a gray jacket, a sculpted wonder seamed, darted and tucked in a manner that reinvents ergonomics. And each look dazzled with grand diamantés parures worn with the precision of superhero weaponry.
Ghesquière opened with black, gray and white, dresses first, then jackets with skirts or pants, using the latter to introduce two key subplots, textural mixes and the contrast of natural and artificial, wool crepe with plastic, for example. Gorgeous tops made from vibrant velvets that swirled around the torso momentarily tempered the structure while making a bridge to overtly decorative fare, including a lineup of remarkable dresses. Though made from those fetishistic mainstays of plastic and latex, these came pale-hued and handpainted and embroidered with gentle scenes inspired by Coromandel screens. Odd? Of course; we're talking rubber cocktail numbers painted with Mt. Fuji and inset with nude breastplates that recalled dime-store Halloween skeleton costumes. But on the runway at least, they awed. And whether or not the specific motif is adapted for real retail, the brilliant imagination and audacity behind it will surely find its way there.