Balenciaga S/S 2009 Paris

[manolocraver]

I like the dresses ... they are so conceptual and quite artistic ... does that mean art in fashion trend is making a comeback next spring?

 

[ChristionCouture]

I can't get enough of this collection. It's incredible!

 

[mcgregl]

Argh! I don't like it!

 

[helmut.newton]

This dress is, according to New York Magazine, US$59,500!!

Thoughts on this price point?

catwalking.com

 

[Spike413]

I'm not surprised. It's basically a couture piece.

 

[gius]

you mean especially because of the handmade fabric? ^

 

[Street_a_Licious]

Sixty Flippin Grand?????

 

[Spike413]

you mean especially because of the handmade fabric? ^

Absolutely. Hand dyed ribbons printed with a state of the art technique and then pleated and sewn onto the dress by hand. It's basically couture.

Granted that Balenciaga is one of the most expensive RTW labels there is, but when it comes to the runway stuff at least I don't think the prices are arbitrary. They reflect the work that goes into each piece.

 

[Frida]

There is an even more expensive, it costs €63.125 about US$80.200 according to Vogue UK​

​

The embroidery pearls fringes are amazing, I love the effect they have on the dress with the reflection of lights.​

style.com/lilydonaldson.com​

 

[Caffeine]

This is insane. He used to be all about street looks, now he is all about special event expensive couture. He could just start his couture line, instead of flirting with all those couture pieces on the RTW runway. I also feel that his main line, off the runway, is getting less and less interesting.

 

[Caffeine]

and I, for one, have been priced out. Maybe I'm just being a sourgrape

 

[MyNameIs]

80K for a dress? A DRESS? That's INSANE. Wow.

 

[Spike413]

^ It really isn't though. That's at least how much you'd pay for an embellished Haute Couture dress, if not more.

Once you stop thinking of those pieces as being RTW, the price doesn't seem nearly as insane.

 

[cesarcmma]

yes he's doing RTW but he's also doing these amazing pieces that are worth looking and those who can buy them surely will.

But not everything is that expensive, these pants which I love are cheaper and if I had the money I wouldn't mind expending it in a piece like this

Harper's Bazaar 03/09
"Go Graphic"
Model: Sigrid Agren
Ph: Tom Munro

scaned by classicalbang

 

[gius]

Thanks for the response Spike

This is insane. He used to be all about street looks, now he is all about special event expensive couture. He could just start his couture line, instead of flirting with all those couture pieces on the RTW runway. I also feel that his main line, off the runway, is getting less and less interesting.

Yeah I was thinking Balenciaga is very close to couture
like the hand-painted latex for fall 08
and the spring 08 had some very exclusive fabrics

 

[helmut.newton]

I'd be curious to know how much money it actually takes to make a dress in the $50,000 + range.

You see, I think Balenciaga want to remain ultra-exclusive; they want to protect their image of a historic Haute Couture house. They don't want a celebrity ruining their image; hence the price point and the strict PR dealings.

It's all about maintaining the highest degree of luxury and exclusivity possible.

 

[tricotineacetat]

This is insane. He used to be all about street looks, now he is all about special event expensive couture. He could just start his couture line, instead of flirting with all those couture pieces on the RTW runway. I also feel that his main line, off the runway, is getting less and less interesting.

i'm sharing your sentiments here - not so long ago you could still take bits and pieces from a balenciaga runway collection and make them work for you, they were expensive, yes, but in an expensive-as-in-ready-to-wear-expensive-reach. that brocade jacket you got for instance is a great example at that - for most other pieces in here i fear there is very little room for personal interpretation because of their ultra-specific nature and unreachable pricing. if at all, they will be displaying these fringed dresses in their flagship stores to help sell uninteresting capsule pants and re-editioned sweaters.

 

[aaronmangsat]

Well, Nicholas has been inspired by "Tron" before...SS 07 was ALL Tron!

I thought it was Power Rangers

 

[Spike413]

i'm sharing your sentiments here - not so long ago you could still take bits and pieces from a balenciaga runway collection and make them work for you, they were expensive, yes, but in an expensive-as-in-ready-to-wear-expensive-reach. that brocade jacket you got for instance is a great example at that - for most other pieces in here i fear there is very little room for personal interpretation because of their ultra-specific nature and unreachable pricing. if at all, they will be displaying these fringed dresses in their flagship stores to help sell uninteresting capsule pants and re-editioned sweaters.

To me that's really the saddest part. The pieces are beautiful, beautifully made, extremely different and unique, but it's like, what's the point? What's the point of creating something so beautiful if it will never be worn by anyone but models and maybe Charlotte Gainsbourg. And like you said, so much of this collection is about a total look, an impact rather than pieces.

That's probably why I still don't think this collection compares to F/W 08, even though the show was fantastic. I don't know how much of F/W made it into stores unchanged, but there really were a number of pieces that could be worked into a wardrobe very nicely (the wrap skirts, the skinny trousers, some of the jackets, the black dresses). It felt a bit like the old Balenciaga, like he really managed to take all of his research and make clothes with it. He failed at that with this collection...

 

[pucci_mama]

I just don't really find Balenciaga that relevant anymore, like trico manetioned there is no room for personal interpretation, and that idea seems awfully dated.

I just look at his earlier collection and I am still mesmerised by how current the looks look, clothes I would love to have..I just wish he would stop all this future stuff it's getting so very stale.