Balenciaga S/S 2012 Paris

[FND74]

ooh, dont like the patch pockets on the pants. wouldve worked better without.

 

[Melancholybaby]

Can't say I'm a big fan of this collection. It started out well but it went downhill from there. The last looks are messy and look quite cheap. Disappointed for now, but I hope with time I'll like it more.

 

[FND74]

And I cant unsee Darth Vader when I see the hats.

 

[Magic Spells]

What the hell

 

[Zazie]

Ugh...looks like he's trying to channel Martin Margiela but fell seriously flat...this is one of the worst, heavy-handed collections I've seen from Balenciaga. Resort was so much better, and lighter, I was looking forward so much to SS12

 

[Tentacl Ventricl]

Extremely interesting.

The roomy, boxy jackets that open have, I'm sure, a similarity of silhouette with those seen at this season's Prada. I note also the 'restraints', the bands of fabric across the chest on some looks. That exaggerated 'french knicker' cut short does call to mind Prada SS10 'Business to Beach', yes, but the cut reappeared in this season's Prada collection.

The 50's is also evoked in the looks around 7-9. The length, the roominess, the contrast hip pockets say Crombie fused with New Look A-line.

The prints around 11-13 are quite hard to see presently but in a way I like that - Bayeaux tapestry? The pleating at 14 evokes the stage. And the french knicker short is morphing into I think the term is a doublet (from doublet and hose) - anyway the bottoms worn by men in medieval, particularly Shakespearean times.

The looks with the hats coming in around look 26 are interesting. Those hats are like a meditation on the cloche yet extended into a witch's hat somehow. Somehow from this section I get the Wizard of Oz - both Dorothy and the Witch at the same time.

There's a passage in Zizek somewhere (I think it's Zizek) where he paints (post)modernity as characterised by a sense that when we pull back the curtain there's not even any longer a fake wizard back there.

Just a few initial thoughts

 

[Squizree]

The last looks with the silly headwear simply serve no purpose. It's a shame because the architectural jackets at the start are absolutely stunning, I wish he had explored body structure and architecture more than what this collection developed into. Instead we have hideously unflattering shorts, strange plastic skirts and silly patchwork? Ghesquire is at his best when he experiments with shapes, structures and cuts, not with unimportant trends.

 

[Donatello89]

well this is very creative, but i don't like it... i don't know how to explain it, it's just colors and outfit in generals

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Balenciaga looks pretty bad as of late, and it could very well have to do with both Sebastien Peigné and Alistair Carr not working with the house anymore - You look at both designer's work and even though there is more than a hint of previous Balenciaga in it, it has a much more uncontrived flair about it than what Nicolas Guesquière is doing on his own - These clothes look like a forced, fashion-y statement and do not come up as being instantly desirable as previous Balenciaga smash hits such as the brocaded silk blazers, the motorcycle jackets, the aviator shearlings or archival egg-shaped coats.

Yeah, that's what I've begun to suspect. The magic is gone. These clothes ARE interesting, but the desire is gone.

 

[Flashbang]

style.com

 

[Flashbang]

style.com

 

[Squizree]

The shoes look like Pokemon

 

[mackos]

Too bad it's so disappointing when the venue looked so promising.

Love the bags though, and the return of the hats is really nice. The bad thing is, the collection doesn't go that well with them.

 

[Frida]

by Jessica Bumpus


THERE was drama before we even got to the clothes at Balenciaga this morning - at least four benches collapsed and as a result guests were told they had to stand for safety reasons (and Twitter went crazy).
“It created quite the spirit of camaraderie,” said Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, noting the show – aside from the seating excitement – to be great and “quite unlike everything anyone else has done, which is exciting”.
This season Nicolas Ghesquiere – who has been at the creative helm of Balenciaga since 1997 - worked with beautiful printed shirts, broad shoulders on suede dresses and vests and high-waisted trousers made from different fabrics – so denim at the front and twill at the back. Legs were narrow on the trouser front and with belts woven through the waist, while mini shorts were cut high on the leg and worked to build up the boxier jacket shapes above.
The thing with Balenciaga is that it’s sometimes hard to describe exactly what you’re seeing – the objects themselves are not necessarily obvious but they somehow make sense when you see them.
It was graphic and futuristic at the beginning (with long pockets and panelled jackets of lilac, peach, claret and navy), and then softened later with longer skirts made up from patchwork fabric or dripping with stalactites of metallic fringing. It ended with graphically-cut tabards and wimple hats made from leather to give an ecclesiastical feel – apt given that the audience were all standing as if at a service.

vogue.co.uk

 

[RedandNavy]

Wow. Not seeing it at all. Of the big names Balenciaga is probably the one I just don't feel. Nice bags but the clothes don't work for me. Nor do I like their shoes this time.

 

[iluvjeisa]

Definitely in the same vein as Prada. Boxy is as boxy does.

 

[balmain1914]

No Seats?

 

[Melancholybaby]

^4 benches broke so they asked all the guests to stand up for safety

 

[jeffandtheworld]

I love the hats. I want them all.
I love this collection. I love those long skirts.
They are very cool and very editorial.
I like new things.

 

[disco54]

those darth vader hats are really creepy . Overall after seeing this show again , I have to say its bad and predictable . Anna Wintour had to stand LOOOL , she must have been pissed lol.