Balenciaga F/W 2023.24 Paris

[IndigoHomme]

I don't know which is worse: Kering still not doing anything with Demna or him having a chance to do something right and wasting it

 

[MulletProof]

View attachment 1227514This has child molester written all over.

where?? in new york?

I worked with children in LA, and little did I know: places with children attract these types. Not once did we attract anyone with an 'about the creep the hell out of you' look. The absolute worst (and worst because he did what he did FOR YEARS) was this adorable-looking man in his late 80s. He was frail, with the sweetest smile, always in white and with some thick scarf and a beret.. think Fred Astaire in his last years. He would offer private piano classes to kids in the industry and the parents would fight for a spot because.. the privilege of being around such a generous and gifted Hollywood relic!

In my experience, they study the surroundings and blend in so they can inspire trust instead of suspicion. But then, it depends on location, I guess!

Demna was doing what he's been doing since the beginning.. which is giving into the standard complex of not-so-young fashion peeps when they think they're really pushing the envelope: make their models 'extraterrestrial', a deviant 'creature' that came from either the center of planet earth or not from planet earth, or through some post-apocalyptical mutation. The type of s*it fed by techno culture (just look at Rick Owens' hair & makeup this season) which is all about 'bet you didn't think I would dare to look this unsettling' lmao.. it's like babe you wouldn't last TEN minutes smuggling your own c****ne through some cross-border tunnel or alone on an boat in the Mediterranean in the middle of the night. But yeah, cool sunglasses.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

It exists. The furor must have affected their textile suppliers because there's some pretty cheap looking fabrics in this, and not used well either.

Also, what the hell is look 13 doing here? I know it's looked at in other iterations, but it's so Margiela circa 2007. Weird.

 

[GoldenTribe]

What a time to be alive. Apparently it is now politically incorrect for men to have private parts because of a months-old scandal about "bondage teddybears" ?

The menswear might be awful, but that's not the same thing as inappropriate.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

What a time to be alive. Apparently it is now politically incorrect for men to have private parts because of a months-old scandal about "bondage teddybears" ?

The menswear might be awful, but that's not the same thing as inappropriate.

I'm not seriously suggesting that these looks are in fact suggestive of pedophiles.

However if it were me I would not let there be any remote possibility of anyone thinking that there could at all be an association.

Which is kind of the same lapse of judgment that got him into trouble to begin with.

 

[GoldenTribe]

It was not a response to you, I largely agree with you.

Does anybody know for sure if those elephantiasis lumps are built into the clothes? (If they are, good heavens, but if it's just a styling gimmick, then those are some pretty boring runway hoodies.)

The soundtrack should have been "My Humps"

 

[LadyJunon]

What a time to be alive. Apparently it is now politically incorrect for men to have private parts because of a months-old scandal about "bondage teddybears" ?

The menswear might be awful, but that's not the same thing as inappropriate.

I'm not seriously suggesting that these looks are in fact suggestive of pedophiles.

However if it were me I would not let there be any remote possibility of anyone thinking that there could at all be an association.

Which is kind of the same lapse of judgment that got him into trouble to begin with.

In @Mutterlein's defence, the looks don't immediately say "pedophile" on their own, but the proportions (hulking shoulders, skinny legs, emphasised bulges) and the styling (dark sunglasses) definitely read as "creep". Add the context of the scandal, and it can easily be interpreted as "pedophile".

Regardless, the most important part, is that people are still calling for Balenciaga to fire Demna, clean house, or even shut down. Any hope on sales of their Resort '23 (the one with the expensive destination show in New York) is doomed and their Spring '23 risks going in that direction.

This collection here says, that stripped of the shock and the showmanship, his recent Balenciaga doesn't have anything else to say. This collection has already failed among critics, so if it doesn't deliver, Demna will be replaced.

People say that Balenciaga is done for, but in truth, 86 years of fashion won't disappear because of a scandal created by someone who can simply being replaced.

Will Balenciaga will continue serving looks for decades after this?
Yes.

Will those looks continue being served under Demna's direction?
Doubt it.

 

[Urban Stylin]

In @Mutterlein's defence, the looks don't immediately say "pedophile" on their own, but the proportions (hulking shoulders, skinny legs, emphasised bulges) and the styling (dark sunglasses) definitely read as "creep". Add the context of the scandal, and it can easily be interpreted as "pedophile".

Regardless, the most important part, is that people are still calling for Balenciaga to fire Demna, clean house, or even shut down. Any hope on sales of their Resort '23 (the one with the expensive destination show in New York) is doomed and their Spring '23 risks going in that direction.

This collection here says, that stripped of the shock and the showmanship, his recent Balenciaga doesn't have anything else to say. This collection has already failed among critics, so if it doesn't deliver, Demna will be replaced.

People say that Balenciaga is done for, but in truth, 86 years of fashion won't disappear because of a scandal created by someone who can simply being replaced.

Will Balenciaga will continue serving looks for decades after this?
Yes.

Will those looks continue being served under Demna's direction?
Doubt it.

Agreed, why can't the suits forget the hype crowd for a second and go back to the true essence of the brand. The losses they'll make during the readjustment are worth reclaiming the glory of the brand. They need a hard reset if they want that stinks to go away because even when people forget about it they'll still look at the brand a particular way with Demna at the helm.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

In @Mutterlein's defence, the looks don't immediately say "pedophile" on their own, but the proportions (hulking shoulders, skinny legs, emphasised bulges) and the styling (dark sunglasses) definitely read as "creep". Add the context of the scandal, and it can easily be interpreted as "pedophile".

Regardless, the most important part, is that people are still calling for Balenciaga to fire Demna, clean house, or even shut down. Any hope on sales of their Resort '23 (the one with the expensive destination show in New York) is doomed and their Spring '23 risks going in that direction.

This collection here says, that stripped of the shock and the showmanship, his recent Balenciaga doesn't have anything else to say. This collection has already failed among critics, so if it doesn't deliver, Demna will be replaced.

People say that Balenciaga is done for, but in truth, 86 years of fashion won't disappear because of a scandal created by someone who can simply being replaced.

Will Balenciaga will continue serving looks for decades after this?
Yes.

Will those looks continue being served under Demna's direction?
Doubt it.

Regarding criticism, really? I feel like everyone has fallen in line behind it but I haven't really bothered to check either.

 

[donyan]

Regardless of what has happened Demna’s Balenciaga had some brilliant moments, and there is no denying of his talent. For me it’s not so much this collection but the sad state of Balenciaga product available online that shows just how much this brand has been destroyed. Pages and Pages of Tshirts , Baseball Caps and other logo-ed merch , and hundreds of hourglass bags in different sizes and colors. It’s as far away from esteemed and desirable brand with a long history as it possibly could be. How they let this happen is impossible to comprehend, and I doubt that Demna had much to do with it.

 

[Drusilla_]

Regardless of what has happened Demna’s Balenciaga had some brilliant moments, and there is no denying of his talent. For me it’s not so much this collection but the sad state of Balenciaga product available online that shows just how much this brand has been destroyed. Pages and Pages of Tshirts , Baseball Caps and other logo-ed merch , and hundreds of hourglass bags in different sizes and colors. It’s as far away from esteemed and desirable brand with a long history as it possibly could be. How they let this happen is impossible to comprehend, and I doubt that Demna had much to do with it.

my guess is Kering wanted the accessories/logo merch money and all Demna did was comply, while dressing up lazy, uninspired and repetitive design with shock tactic circus antics and celebrity involvement. Because his early work for the label was really interesting and influential for years afterwards. But I agree with MP's assessment quoted below:

Demna was doing what he's been doing since the beginning.. which is giving into the standard complex of not-so-young fashion peeps when they think they're really pushing the envelope: make their models 'extraterrestrial', a deviant 'creature' that came from either the center of planet earth or not from planet earth, or through some post-apocalyptical mutation. The type of s*it fed by techno culture (just look at Rick Owens' hair & makeup this season) which is all about 'bet you didn't think I would dare to look this unsettling' lmao.. it's like babe you wouldn't last TEN minutes smuggling your own c****ne through some cross-border tunnel or alone on an boat in the Mediterranean in the middle of the night. But yeah, cool sunglasses.

 

[vetements]

Agreed, why can't the suits forget the hype crowd for a second and go back to the true essence of the brand. The losses they'll make during the readjustment are worth reclaiming the glory of the brand. They need a hard reset if they want that stinks to go away because even when people forget about it they'll still look at the brand a particular way with Demna at the helm.

I think "money speaks" is why. Balenciaga under Demna has made a lot of money for Kering. And those looks has gone nothing to do with Cristobal's Balenciaga designs codes. Whilst it is easy to say to just revert back to the stylish brand that the real Balenciaga should represent, they have a profit and loss an a balance sheet to look at. Unless they are sure that the other brands under the Kering stable can all come together to contribute to more sales that can cover what is forecasted for Balenciaga originally, it is not going to be an easy decision to just "go back".

By the way, I am with you on this, but I am also well aware of how business works, and these days, the suits only mostly look short term.

 

[Caffeine]

that stripped of the shock and the showmanship, his recent Balenciaga doesn't have anything else to say

The only surprise is that it took so long.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

I don't think the "codes" aren't there. Demna definitely does work within certain parameters. I think that spike in terminology is a part of why a problem like this arises. All these companies hire a creative director to design a dead person's essence through their own lens. Regardless of a good or bad outcome, when you boil down someone into their "codes" or "DNA" and run with it, you don't get what the original artist had in mind. It's something else entirely every time a new CD is hired. There will be no long-term consistency. Which is why their biggest problem with "Balenciaga" is that they've been hardcore growing and selling the Demna brand, not Balenciaga. And the Demna brand consists of trying to figure out ways to sell crap to plebs on credit cards. Maybe if they didn't climb so high they wouldn't have fallen so hard, but now that Demna himself is cancelled, they can either wait till this blow over bc people have short attention spans or hire someone new to continue the low effort irony aesthetic if they want to keep the fanbase that buys all the t shirts and sunglasses and whatever. Going back to a more conventional form of glamour would be literally killing the brand and starting over from ground zero. Not impossible because they did it with Demna in the first place, Alessandro at Gucci, etc, but it would suck.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

What I'm hearing from my buyer friend is that that showroom has been empty and the sales team are terrified.

 

[plentyofhorns]

What I'm hearing from my buyer friend is that that showroom has been empty and the sales team are terrified.

I’m not sure what they expected. logos or not, the collection was quintessentially demna, and that’s exactly what people are trying to avoid.

 

[Caffeine]

What I'm hearing from my buyer friend is that that showroom has been empty and the sales team are terrified.

Because, most of the consumers are...normal?

 

[yslforever]

What I'm hearing from my buyer friend is that that showroom has been empty and the sales team are terrified.

Demna's job is safe for the moment because Gucci is in transition and Kering probably can't afford two transitions in the same time...

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Demna's job is safe for the moment because Gucci is in transition and Kering probably can't afford two transitions in the same time...

Let's say my friend's observations can be used to accurately assess the commercial failure of the collection. Hypothetically.

How long do you think they could afford to not get rid of him?

 

[LadyJunon]

Let's say my friend's observations can be used to accurately assess the commercial failure of the collection. Hypothetically.

How long do you think they could afford to not get rid of him?

My guess is that they'll do the switch around the time Sabato debuts at Gucci. That way, his departure doesn't make for too much drama.