Balenciaga S/S 10 Paris

[abstraccion]

I really dont get this collection.

 

[Salvatore]

Oh I saw some HQ foto and the detail on the last skirts are so cool! Really cool details here!

 

[Deleted member 7575]

I'm with Scott and Disco54. In fact, it's because of Ghesquire that I find myself so disappointed. He had a continuous string of inspiring and brilliant collections from 2002 to 2007ish, and over the past couple of years they haven't had the oomph as before. By no means are these clothes poorly designed, in fact they are quite nice, but they are the kind of things we'd expect in his pre-collections, designed to sell, and, not on his runway. It's no secret that Ghesquire has been after that Cavalli woman (the opposite end of avant-garde is what I mean) and designs for her with the highest level of sophistication, and it's no secret with this collection.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

you couldnt have said it better scott, my thoughts exactly.

I third that!

Dont think this is a good collection by any strech of the imagination, and i love him.

 

[Lanbim Cord]

What happened with Balenciaga?
I usually like Nicolas' work.But this is so disappointing......
I couldn't understand why want to close Balenciaga the Gucci Group,'cos it's always was beautiful,and couture-esque.This time, GG's right....

 

[wongak]

I really like Nicola's sense of cutting and graphics, the collection is so him..... i think each season come up a really fresh and unexpected collection.... great to see it

 

[Zazie]

Don't understand the hate here - sure he's revisiting the Futuristic collections that shocked everyone a few seasons back. I remember how his shiny collages and C3PO pants confused TFS, with most hating the aesthetic then. What's overlooked is how influential those looks were - without Balenciaga, you won't have a "La Jetee" from Antonin, all the decorated leggings worn by every blogger or Rodarte collages.

I hated his past few "drape" collections but this collection is bolder, colourful and more graphic than before with a lot of Hussein Chalayan touches, especially in the print, transparent and leather layering and quite a bit of "mod" references. This is also a very pretty collection, wearable like what Andresson did for Chloe. What's stunning for me though, is not the familiar "look" or the sleek Balenciaga silhouette, but the WORK as seen in the details of some of the pieces, precise, elaborate and fascinating new textures without looking "crafty", a beauty more engineered than "natural", back to those amazing C3PO tights but the technique is completely different this time, new and not repeated from before. That's what I like about NG and that's what convinces me despite a few recent disappointments. I'd love to get a close-up of these, can't wait for the HQs.

 

[wheneveriwakeup]

it's bizarre for me to see such loving opinions about a collection i feel is over-hyped and disingenuous,yet the very same people berated a few other designers for their hype over substance. but i suppose because its names are 'balenciaga' and ghesquire,it weighs more heavily?

Exactly Scott! He could send burlap sacks down the runway and ppl would praise his 'genius' and then go into other threads claiming designers are 'pulling a Balenciaga'. It's hilarious.

I think Ghesquière has his moments of brilliance - the Le Dix, Fall 07, Spring 09 - but he is so often consumed with the hype surrounding Balenciaga and his talent as a designer that he never quit goes outside or beyond himself and his obvious reference points - 'the future'. What is the pt. of referencing something as broad as the future if all of your collections manage to look anything but PROGRESSIVE? Ghesquière is like the French Marc Jacobs - neither understands the power of consistency and identity. The Balenciaga customer and the Marc Jacobs customer change season after season b/c both designers design with hype in mind, rather than aesthetic or substance. That's not to say nothing beautiful can be produced from hype, but while beautiful, it definitely gets old after a while...

I think the hooded vests look great, but everything else looks so regressive and poorly constructed, imo. Ghesquière is always lacking in the refinement department. His work is so choppy and abrupt; rather than easing in, it attacks.

 

[disco54]

this is a stagnant collection tweaked . Doing Futurism for the sake futurism is cliched and ironic because this futurism is look quite stale .

 

[ilaughead]

Exactly Scott! He could send burlap sacks down the runway and ppl would praise his 'genius' and then go into other threads claiming designers are 'pulling a Balenciaga'. It's hilarious.

I think Ghesquière has his moments of brilliance - the Le Dix, Fall 07, Spring 09 - but he is so often consumed with the hype surrounding Balenciaga and his talent as a designer that he never quit goes outside or beyond himself and his obvious reference points - 'the future'. What is the pt. of referencing something as broad as the future if all of your collections manage to look anything but PROGRESSIVE? Ghesquière is like the French Marc Jacobs - neither understands the power of consistency and identity. The Balenciaga customer and the Marc Jacobs customer change season after season b/c both designers design with hype in mind, rather than aesthetic or substance. That's not to say nothing beautiful can be produced from hype, but while beautiful, it definitely gets old after a while...

I think the hooded vests look great, but everything else looks so regressive and poorly constructed, imo. Ghesquière is always lacking in the refinement department. His work is so choppy and abrupt; rather than easing in, it attacks.

I'm going to have to disagree on the consistency thing. Ghesquière seems to have one of the most reliable aesthetics of designers working today. Marc Jacobs, I can see. His overarching vision at his own label seems to be limited to a Juergen Teller campaign, but Balenciaga has a very definite 'look' about it, with not just the make-up/styling/whatever, but the silhouettes are immediately identifiable while at the same time offering something new.

As for this collection, it'll take a little more digesting, but I see some potential in it. I'm really interested to get some insight from Nicolas, though. This season, it seems like we haven't gotten any soundbites from the designers.

 

[mistress_f]

i had just became his biggest fan and now he disappoints me like this?
so underwhelming. there are a few pieces here and there that are fine but overall, no thanks

 

[LolaSvelt]

Not Ghesquiere's best collection, but my lord, the first dress on #1. Amazing!

 

[ilaughead]

Cathy Horyn's review from NYTimes.com

In one of those periodic mood swings, Nicolas Ghesquiere today took Balenciaga back to the streets. The clothes had a hard urban edge, beginning with hooded vests that combined leather and leather woven with other materials for an industrial texture. Ankle boots repeated the illusion. Last season, in the same gold-and-cream salon at the Crillon hotel, Mr. Ghesquiere offered a kind of “Belle de Jour” elegance, all drapery and fancy black stockings. Yesterday, after the Rochas show, Agnès Boulard — French television’s feisty Mademoiselle Agnès — and her collaborator Loïc Prigent were needling me for predictions. Would the French spring ready-to-wear collections be more frigid lady or cool street?
Well, she had her answer this morning at the Crillon. Sort of.
Although the Balenciaga show was indeed graphic, tough and linear, with skinny black leathers, grainy-looking shifts slashed with yellow and turquoise, and other dresses that blended leather strips and sheer fabric, I think the clothes actually expressed a dualism in Mr. Ghesquiere’s work. He has been thinking about Balenciaga too long — about the past, the present, the architectural shapes in the archive — for the label to be one thing or the other.
If you consider this collection strictly in terms of its street vibe, some people might not find it new enough. But I think the difference is the deconstruction. The technique feels updated in Mr. Ghesquiere’s hands — or, at any rate, controlled and polished. The most successful look was the sleeveless chemise with the graphic combination of ultra-soft black leather strips and sheer jersey. They’re a very loose, boxy shape, and they seem to lap around the body as if wrapped. There are also outfits that mix a leather top with what appears to be bonded cotton print. It’s hard to tell the materials apart. And in a way that’s what is interesting about the collection. Boundaries are blurred.

 

[wheneveriwakeup]

I don't see any consistency in Nicolas Ghesquière's work for Balenciaga. Consistency, imo, goes much farther than replicating the same silhouette every season. Two completely different aesthetics can be applied to the same silhouette, that doesn't necessarily mean there is any correlation, besides the obvious, between the two.

 

[Pastry]

I'm with Scott and Disco54. In fact, it's because of Ghesquire that I find myself so disappointed. He had a continuous string of inspiring and brilliant collections from 2002 to 2007ish, and over the past couple of years they haven't had the oomph as before. By no means are these clothes poorly designed, in fact they are quite nice, but they are the kind of things we'd expect in his pre-collections, designed to sell, and, not on his runway. It's no secret that Ghesquire has been after that Cavalli woman (the opposite end of avant-garde is what I mean) and designs for her with the highest level of sophistication, and it's no secret with this collection.

Interesting, very interesting comment, Mutterlein.
Especially the point where you mentioned the quality of ghesquiere's work in the 2002-2007ish period. I look back to those collections: the sports-inspired peices, the "sci-fi cruise ship crew (or whatever he called it)" of s/s 2005, the beautiful shearling coats of f/w 2004, and even the boots from the collection, they were all so special and beautiful and desirable. I just had no idea why the clothes have taken a completely different route. And your comment, it would seem, provides a logical explanation.

 

[balmain1914]

consistency is really that important to a label these years?
I mean,I prefer the collections are linked,but,today,numbers and money are on the top,
not everyone could do something like what Miuccia and Olivier Theyskens had done.Olivier Theyskens's left,clothes on some online stores are not sellable,frankly speaking.....

 

[cottonmouth13]

wow, he did it again! Nicolas Ghesquiere has presented a collection that would have everyone talking about. i like this one! glad he's back at his futuristic roots. though this collection just reminds me of his S/S 07 (some of the dresses). but i just got to say this, those hoodies are SO AMAZING. i love it! the construction of each plus seeing the details, wow. just amazing. as well as with the pants.

didn't like some of the dress 'cause i think they're too tacky. but i do love the dress on Iselin. and as for the shoes, i must admit i didn't like them at first 'cause they look weird. but when i did a second look, i have learned to love them.

Nicolas Ghesquiere has one unique fashion mind that couldn't be compared with other designers. kudos!

 

[kitty87kat]

It's so great to see Balenciaga back to its cool futuristic self. Love the sharp tailoring in this collection and the geometric play of shapes in color in the garments. But, the shoes, they will take a little while to get used to.

 

[DJGroove]

I wouldn't want those shoes for free.

 

[Zazie]

Ha, finally Cathy Horyn and I agree on *something* sight unseen....