The first three dresses at the Balenciaga show this morning were modern takes on the black cocktail sheath–I should say, extremely modern takes. Nicolas Ghesquiere cut everything close, in fabrics that might typically be stiff–like patent leather and thick wool crepes–but the effect was very light. You could see that his aim was to make everything light: the fabric, the cutting, the mentality. If you think of the couture structure from the 50s and 60s, and from his own recent collections, Ghesquiere still had subtle volumes in his opening dresses but it was as though he had stripped it down.
Like a minimalist, he cut away everything that wasn’t necessary. Don’t need a swell of fabric on the arms? Strip it down to arm bands! The coats that followed were of unlined patent leather, so glossy and supple that it looked like vinyl or rubber. At the models’ necks and wrists were sparkling silver jewelry. Men’s fabrics also figured in the collection, as rounded jackets worn with short, laser-like skirts. Ghesquiere finished with slim (but not body-hugging) latex dresses that were printed and embroidered in classical motifs, with robin’s egg blue as a prime color. If you think how Jean Paul Gaultier once approached latex (and still does) as a fetish object, this was the opposite story. In fact, the collection looked very wearable, and more womanly–let’s not say mature–than ever before. It’s interesting how Ghesquiere can draw from the same period and genre as Galliano, at least this season, and extract such different, thought-provoking, fashion-moving results.