Balenciaga S/S 10 Paris

[classicalbang]

vogue.co.uk

 

[classicalbang]

vogue.co.uk

 

[masquerade]

I like all the hip hop/b girl references in the hoodies and pants. I really this this collection as a whole. I wasn't too keen last season, I love it when he does futurism more than when he does the archives, and this is no exception.

 

[AGiles]

Half of this collection is Riccardo Tisci rehashed

 

[dior_couture1245]

I actually think the makeup is really bad...very cliche high fashion, which is annoying since the clothes are so good.

 

[ilaughead]

Here's what Suzy had to say about this and Balmain... NYTimes.com. (I feel stupid posting this in both of the threads, but it's her fault for combining the reviews.)

October 2, 2009
Special Report
Balmain vs. Balenciaga

By SUZY MENKES
PARIS — Thursday marked the great standoff between Balmain and Balenciaga, two storied couture houses that have both — in very different ways — gone pop with new designers.
Here is the verdict from cyberspace: Balenciaga, 41 Twitters in an hour after the show; and in the same time, Balmain, 75.
If you Google Balmain and Christophe Decarnin, 166,000 results appear (after the designer’s four years at the house). For Balenciaga and Nicolas Ghesquière, it is 70,900 after 12 years at the helm.
How unfair it is that the Balmain designer should have twice the attention of the other. For the collection sent out by Mr. Ghesquière on Thursday was by far the more original and inventive —a return to the futuristic and dynamic look he first delivered at Balenciaga.
Not that Balmain was a bad collection. It was repetitive, but full of energy and a raw sexual charge rarely seen these days on the catwalks. It was based on a military theme — all sparkling epaulets, jangling medals and torn denim tail coats. The dirty-blonde models strode out to the 1980s hip-hop beat of “Rappers’ Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang. They were certainly a snapper’s delight — the collection will be a knockout as a video and great as an online slide-show.
Is fashion creativity still the most relevant issue? The spring/summer 2010 Paris shows are having their first season since social networking became a far bigger influence on fashion than editors, or even models and celebrities. If you look at the numbers, the fashion people out there have spoken, even if the judgment is influenced by the Hollywood factor of Rihanna and Beyoncé wearing Balmain or the niche in which Mr. Ghesquière deliberately hides himself.
“I do think about how things will look on screen — it’s very important,” said Mr. Ghesquière before sending out a turbo-powered show that took the designer back to his stark, space-age roots at Balenciaga and junked last season’s drape-and-shape cocktail dresses with a sheen of bourgeois glamour.
“Urban, but with authenticity and rusticity,” said Mr. Ghesquière, who admitted that he had thought “deeply” about this collection.
It had the feeling of clothes never before seen quite like this, even if the first silhouettes of skinny pants — but with hooded vests — touched on the geometry that the designer previously had drawn up for Balenciaga.
But the point of the moto-cross look, down to its ankle-stud boots with cylinder heels, was that it was infused with extraordinary fabric research and gulps of vivid color. The vermilion, green or yellow even appeared as spots at the inner corners of the models’ eyes, as well as in blocks of bright shades emerging from the side of a sliced-away leather dress.
More than ever, this collection seemed like a computerized image, with its stark, clear lines and white shirts as a backdrop. Yet it had three-dimensional depth, with materials intriguing in their mixes of textures and visual contrasts. The audience could see up close the woven raffia vest or porcupine spikes of leather on a skirt hem as the models walked through daylight streaming in from the gilded windows of the grand Hôtel de Crillon.
But anyone who thought that this collection had abandoned the grown-up ladies of last season should have listened to Catherine Deneuve, whose new movie is called “Mere et Filles” or “Mothers and Daughters,” and who sat in the front row with a posse of young French actresses.
“He is so inventive in materials and silhouettes,” said Ms. Deneuve, a French icon, referring to a zippered column dress with a synthetic/organic surface. What a shame that this subtlety won’t play online the same way it did to the live audience.
There was absolutely no subtlety at the Balmain show, which was hard — literally, as metal mesh dresses featured scooped-out, braless necklines; or figuratively, as laces were worked through metal eyelets on leather pants. A belt was even impregnated by bullets.
“It’s warrior women and the military, with a mix of different times and a touch of ‘Mad Max,”’ Mr. Decarnin said backstage, summing up this tough not-so-chic look that has a generation of rich kids in its thrall.
For these are not inexpensive clothes. The skill needed to create such dramatic pieces is exceptional: the cut of the military coats; the threading through of metal mesh and sequins; the lattice weave of python and leather for the pants. And throughout, the skillful cutting that gave the sense of clothes falling onto bare bodies.
There was more than a hint of Gianni Versace in his heyday — but how could you not associate the late designer with metal mesh and a 1980s vibe? And new-millennium Balmain has definitely caught the fashion moment, as well as the attention of a whole wide world of bloggers, Tweeters and cyberspace image makers. They see in Mr. Decarnin the vibe of the moment: love it, grab it, own it, have fun with it. MySpace is his space.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

Thanks so much for posting the HQs classicalbang

There are quite a few looks that tend to repeat themselves (I'm sure FashionPower will agree with me) notably the three tops that only vary in colour of stripe and with the colour of the leather on the trousers.
All of this aside I think I am already in love with: the use of leather and sheer together, the ostrich leggings and those pieces in the middle that look like they're sixties Cristobal Balenciaga but reinvented with a thick zip down the sleeve or off-centre, those two leather jackets, the black one actually being a gilet and the second one being gray leather mixed with the same gray fabric.

The best piece over all though is this piece on Karmen Pedaru. The corners at the chest and the stitchless layering of the leather on the skirt. Genius.
Well, my doubt was quickly evaporated. Though it's not Ghesquire's best work I still love it. I love it when he does modern.

 

[knockturnal]

pretty damn good collection!

 

[MarionasMuse]

I`m sad because i was expecting too much for this Balenciaga S/S 10 Collection,but it really disappointed me...

 

[chloehandbags]

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

Yes, I think you've hit the nail on the head, there, disco.

I like the hooded gilets and some of the skirts and dresses and the collection looks very precisely constructed, as ever; but it's just a bit repetitive and not very exciting, IMO.

There again, I haven't really liked Balenciaga since A/W '07, I think it was(?), so I'm probably not the best judge...

 

[venjeans]

this is not balenciaga....
.
.
but i would totally rock the first hooded leather vest..

 

[rip_ian curtis]

I can feel this certain Balenciaga-blindness here in the comments...as this collection clearly is kinda uninspired & done before. Worst thing is that fashion students do this kind of stuff during their first semester, adding a hundred seams to pants, collage-like dresses etc. yawn!

 

[ForChicSake]

apart from the hoodies , this is not as spectacular as i expected not even that good

 

[Salvatore]

I love it when he does modern.

Thanks you. It is not so futuristic as it is modern like you said because the future is now. This is the way some people are dressing in the present.

 

[jeremydante]

^ i love your "stop blocking my view" line! hahaha totally what i was thinking.

 

[redhotfuss]

the hoodies are awesome... but eh..

 

[BerlinRocks]

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.

I'm not really responding to yr post.
but still.

he's not only making a new futuristic collection. but he basically put a lot of stuff from a lot of different previous collection. just be more eyes-open and go bfore the futuristic collection (some stuff really reminds me previous collection like the bombers one, or the flowers one etc.).

and i cannot deny that he used to influenced the world of fashion. but that time seems ended ...

and i cannot ignore the fact that i love some stuff. but i don't know why the excitement for his collections has faded away.

it's just so ------ .... there's no ^^^^^ ....
(couldn't find the english words. sorry.)

 

[thiago:)]

This collection feels so 2003, but in a good way. I really like it, especially Sasha's dress. The fabrics and colors are great.

 

[csmboy]

Here's what Suzy had to say about this and Balmain... NYTimes.com. (I feel stupid posting this in both of the threads, but it's her fault for combining the reviews.)

she forgets, or doesn't know, that not all google entries are kept over a 12 year period (or even 5 for that matter)....for whatever reason, posts are deleted over time - so her comment about google figures is incorrect, and misinformed....

 

[Bidwell]

Feel the love.
For the record, the collection at Bon Marché is always beautiful (due to a terrific buyer perhaps). The pre-collection pieces are alluringly wearable in a way catwalk pieces are not designed to be (and these are really only visible in store).
The fabric research, construction and quality are extremely high for prêt-à-porter. Again, what is visible on a computer screen will never do fashion justice. Nor does seeing it at a manic fashion show. It needs to be looked at up close and held.