Balenciaga S/S 2024 Paris

[LadyJunon]

 

[youthinasia]

This brand is so tiring

The Demna checklist:
Floral print pleated oversized dress - check
Trench coat variation - check
Distressed jersey - check
Bomber Jacket - check
Some sort of play on shoulders - check
Hoodies - check

Buttoning two coats/jackets together does not make a new garment
The proportions on some of the tailoring is actually pretty interesting
Final few dresses were at least a nice change

Really pulling out all the celebs for this one (Amanda Lepore, Diane Pernet, etc)

Soundtrack was giving me anxiety

 

[gallianostan]

he needs to exit eight seasons ago. this is like torture.

 

[lhhbl]

I feel like I just watched his worst show at Balenciaga.

The only good thing was the amazing dramatic narration by Isabelle Hupert. The clothes were hideous, not modern, repetitive. The models choice were... a choice... as usual. No idea what some top models were doing there (making money).

Demna is SUCH a hypocrite. Why give interviews saying all those things, that the focus was going to be on the clothes and not on the spectacle if what he did after the scandals was exactly the same as before: create horrible clothes disguised as groundbreaking and Berlin/Antwerp aesthetics? He literally thinks that the consumers and audience are idiots and is not scared to say and show that to our faces.

Hopefully this set means that the “show” is finally over.

Can't wait for everyone's comments in here!

 

[Cocteau Stone]

I commend Balenciaga for highlighting the impact of scoliosis and poor posture. It really does affect the way in which things can look and should be treated seriously and professionally.

He's a cliché now. Not necessarily a sell out, but the personification of expired milk that someone is trying to pass off as cheese curds. I only caught the tail end of the stream and grimaced with huge disdain seeing a sequined spandex blend sleeved tube dress on my screen that the model struggled to walk in. Tried to go from the start and could barely get through what I missed.

We're all tired of this, but maybe he knows that. Or maybe not... perhaps his echo chamber is that thickly walled he is incapable of taking outside opinions that don't fuel his ego.

Even the soundtrack is a mockery of itself. Hupert is dramatic and it's great, but with the orcehstral music then into the hard dubbed synth rave music is like come on Demna, the same old topics and themes all over again. Just go away and touch grass mate, and stop this waste of fabric and resources.

 

[perhydrol]

This show felt like a farewell and I REALLY hope it's true because, well, the trick has worn out.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

It has to be over.

Honestly, I dont have much to say except: enough.

 

[yslforever]

Pretentiousness, only pretentiousness and infatuation.
The narration by Huppert was the most interesting thing, I started googling the stitches.
We get it Demna, but self-proclaiming you’re couturier, with couture techniques and atelier, doesn’t make you a couturier, you’re either delusional or really fake.

 

[FashionFanatico]

Halloween came early.

 

[avonlea002]

The soundtrack was great, the rest not so much.

 

[Lola701]

ANCORA?
It’s funny that we were naive enough to believe in Demna’s ability to refresh his vocabulary.

I find also very interesting that Balenciaga, out of all the brands in the world, has indulged in all the tropes people seems to hate about fashion (heavy marketing, celebrity culture, lazy merchandise, lazy shock value, lame collaborations) while getting away with it thanks of a well oiled story-telling, a fake sensation of subversion and a hole of pretentiousness that is commonly described as « Depth ».

‘At Balenciaga, it’s never about the clothes but more about everything around that makes the brand being talked about. Having the fabulous Isabelle Huppert read the construction of a sleeve or collar won’t make the sleeves more exceptional…

I think I need to touch on the presence of Diane Pernet and Cathy Horyn on the catwalk. Besides the fact that Balenciaga has put every celebrity on earth on their runway, I have to say that I’m side eyeing any active fashion journalist whose credibility depends on giving their opinion on people’s work.

Biais exist as we are all human and all have sensibilities but what is the difference between Cathy Horyn, Bryan Boy or Tamara Kalinic? They all participate in the branding of a house. Walking a show and receive gifts from a brand is the same…

For me they jeopardized their integrity.
I can wait to see how Vanessa Friedman or Lisa Amstrong, who famously illustrated herself for criticizing the « influencer pit » at Gucci last season will react to that.

I’m so ready for Demna to leave now. Maybe Sarah Burton will be the one to take over Balenciaga…She is the only one who has ever hugged Pinault at the end of a show. It would be ridiculous for him to let her go to the opponent.

 

[style_expert]

This show felt like a farewell and I REALLY hope it's true because, well, the trick has worn out.

I was thinking the same, this really felt like a farewell with some of the references. I hope the funeral vibes were a sign the Demna chapter will be buried now.

If it was his farewell collection, it was good.
If it was not his farewell collection, it was torture.
How much more can we take of this aesthetic?

I agree with Lola, I was so unpleasantly surprised to see Cathy Horyn walking this show.
I think she's a great fashion writer at times, but this move made me somehow lose respect for her and the credibility she had built up over decades of writing? It's a line she shouldn't have crossed.

 

[donyan]

Watching this left me in a state of profound sadness. It’s like a funeral procession for a moment in time, both disturbing and weirdly cathartic. I have no idea where Balenciaga can go from here, this show made sure that the ghost of the last years will hover around this brand for a long time to come

 

[Koibito]

At first i thought “dare Kathy Horyn to write a bad review for this show” but then i remember she wrote such a heartfelt review for the “refreshing drama-free ss23 collection”. So, nevermind.

 

[Thefrenchy]

I echo the sentiment that it felt like a farewell.

It also shows how much Demna is at the end of the road for his vision at Balenciaga. His entire vocabulary was in that collection, and nothing more that we had never seen before from him.

He definitely will have been instrumental in shaping an era of fashion, and I consider his impact on Balenciaga's history as key as Nicolas Ghesquiere's tenure (even if I immensely preferred the latter).

If it turns out to not be a farewell, is it a "we forgive you, let's get back to business" from the industry? Seeing Cathy, Diane, and even a top executive from Kering walk the show made me wonder...

One thing Demna is undeniably good at is theatrics. The set, the soundtrack... Huppert's narration being prominent in the first section of the show referencing a time when his collections spoke louder than the brouhaha of the industry and the public, then the voice getting progressively drowned in the music that got increasingly overwhelming, finishing by the narrator's panic while still trying to remain focused on the text yet the dramatic music still being so loud. A reference to still trying to release collections while the impact of that scandal still lingers around? Perhaps the intent was different but that's how I read it.

Amanda Lepore as the Mars Attacks! alien lady will remain the most memorable moment of this show for me.

 

[BlueRuin]

lol every season y’all be saying this is the end of the road, no one’s buying his clothes, they will fire him after the scandal, his shops are empty. Yet here we are.

 

[Mrs.T]

There isn't just not enough words to describe how repulsed I am by this.
Nothing new. I seriously hope this is the last time we have to go through this eye sore.

 

[GIVENCHYlover]

 

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM