Demna Gvasalia - Designer, Creative Director of Balenciaga

[Bernie Flood]

What is the reaction in China / South Korea / Japan about the scandal ?

I wonder if customers based in Asia are still buying/supporting the brand, what was the press opinion, how the medial dealt with it...

They were probably paid to ignore it

 

[Deleted member 7575]

What is the reaction in China / South Korea / Japan about the scandal ?

I wonder if customers based in Asia are still buying/supporting the brand, what was the press opinion, how the medial dealt with it...

They are far more conservative than we are in the West, I doubt it's playing out too well over there.

But, China hasn't really been the profit driver it used to be. There was a surge of sales due to revenge spending but that's all over.

Yes it's important, but the United States right now is maybe more important.

 

[tctra]

What is the reaction in China / South Korea / Japan about the scandal ?

I don't this it's a big issue in Asia, largely because pedophilia is relatively uncommon. Note i said 'relative', not it doesn't happen. If you look at places like Thailand and Philippines, exploitation comes from westerners who go over to abuse children.
I think even in Europe for the most part its relatively uncommon. It's unsurprising that the biggest backlash comes from the US where this sort of thing is prevalent.

 

[fenty]

I think March will be his last show at the house but I wonder who's next

 

[LadyJunon]

I think March will be his last show at the house but I wonder who's next

Personally, I'd like to see Arturo Obegero, Julius Juul or Nicolas Di Felice at the helm. If Jacquemus was still in his 2016-2019 architectural era and had better technical skills, I'd consider him as well.

Unless Demna's second in command has a radically different vision for Balenciaga, internal promotion wouldn't be looked at in a positive light.

 

[IndigoHomme]

Maybe sounds crazy, but Alejandro Palomo (from Palomo Spain) will be a good idea

 

[IndigoHomme]

Unless Demna's second in command has a radically different vision for Balenciaga, internal promotion wouldn't be looked at in a positive light.

That's my question: Would an internal promotion be coherent when the campaign that unleashed everything was the decision of a creative team?

 

[Caffeine]

That's my question: Would an internal promotion be coherent when the campaign that unleashed everything was the decision of a creative team?

I think they will have to clean house.
They can build Gucci from within, but Balenciaga needs to have a brand new team.

 

[KoV]

I don't this it's a big issue in Asia, largely because pedophilia is relatively uncommon. Note i said 'relative', not it doesn't happen. If you look at places like Thailand and Philippines, exploitation comes from westerners who go over to abuse children.
I think even in Europe for the most part its relatively uncommon. It's unsurprising that the biggest backlash comes from the US where this sort of thing is prevalent.

This is absurd. P*dophilia and child abuse are uniquely American, uncommon is Asian, Europe, and the rest of the world? It exists everywhere, America is certainly not innocent. But if Westerners are flocking to particular countries to exploit children, that would seem to indicate those countries don't have sufficient protections in place. Child brides are very common in parts of the world, as are low ages of consent (compared to 18yo in much of the USA)

Reminds me of people in certain countries who claim homosexuality doesn't exist there. Just because a society doesn't want to acknowledge a something doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

 

[LadyJunon]

Maybe sounds crazy, but Alejandro Palomo (from Palomo Spain) will be a good idea

That would actually be very interesting to see, but the biggest risks are that we haven't seen womenswear from him (remember Botter at Nina Ricci) and we're unsure if he can keep the menswear business Demna grew (this was one of Alessandro Michele's weaker points at Gucci).

That's my question: Would an internal promotion be coherent when the campaign that unleashed everything was the decision of a creative team?

I think they will have to clean house.
They can build Gucci from within, but Balenciaga needs to have a brand new team.

Now I think it over, it would be better to simply replace Balenciaga's team altogether. Or at least the decision makers.

Internal promotion would probably displease a lot of the people who want Demna gone, since the second-in-command will be seen as "Demna-Lite" until they prove otherwise. Also if the second-in-command is Gosha, it will be the end of the road for Kering's Balenciaga.

There's a small possiblity that Demna's second-in-command might have a different vision for Balenciaga and decide to pull a "Michele's Gucci", but I doubt that could happen considering how Demna's team is composed.

The higher-ups in the design team are mostly composed of Vêtements old design team (Balenciaga's team from the 00s followed Ghesquiére to Louis Vuitton). Demna also a weird hiring process. He likes to hire his design team straight out of school to keep them "pure", meaning that they only know how to design for him.

 

[perhydrol]

^ There's also Peter Copping rumoured to be the design director of haute couture.

 

[LadyJunon]

^ There's also Peter Copping rumoured to be the design director of haute couture.

Then, Balenciaga might have some hope of redemption after all.

 

[jeanclaude]

Maybe sounds crazy, but Alejandro Palomo (from Palomo Spain) will be a good idea

Sybilla sería perfecta para mí...
(Sybilla would be perfect for me...)

And in my wet dreams, Ralph Rucci would take over Balenciaga.

 

[LadyJunon]

Sybilla sería perfecta para mí...
(Sybilla would be perfect for me...)

And in my wet dreams, Ralph Rucci would take over Balenciaga.

Sybilla's work is so beautiful and modern. It's a shame there's not many images of it.

Ralph Ricci would also be a very good idea, but I fear that he might be a bit too conservative for today's fashion climate.

 

[jeanclaude]

Sybilla's work is so beautiful and modern. It's a shame there's not many images of it.

Ralph Ricci would also be a very good idea, but I fear that he might be a bit too conservative for today's fashion climate.

Here in Spain, Sybilla is regarded like the heir to Cristóbal Balenciaga...a pity Kering prefer glorified stylists for their brands, instead of real fashion designers like her (or Rucci).

(revistavanityfair.es)

(shopify.com)

ps. Josep Font would be another spanish designer who could make wonders at Balenciaga (aka the guy from Delpozo).

(pinimg.com)

 

[LadyJunon]

Here in Spain, Sybilla is regarded like the heir to Cristóbal Balenciaga...a pity Kering prefer glorified stylists for their brands, instead of real fashion designers like her (or Rucci).

(revistavanityfair.es)

(shopify.com)

ps. Josep Font would be another spanish designer who could make wonders at Balenciaga (aka the guy from Delpozo).

(pinimg.com)

I loved his Delpozo so much. It's such a shame he left.
Lutz Huelle was also quite promising, but he only did one collection before going radio silent and announcing his departure two years later.
Yiqing Yin could also be a good replacement. I liked her short-lived tenure at Poiret.

 

[gallianostan]

Sybilla sería perfecta para mí...
(Sybilla would be perfect for me...)

from your lips to god's ears

 

[Deleted member 7575]

from your lips to god's ears

Amen

 

[Deleted member 7575]

This is absurd. P*dophilia and child abuse are uniquely American, uncommon is Asian, Europe, and the rest of the world? It exists everywhere, America is certainly not innocent. But if Westerners are flocking to particular countries to exploit children, that would seem to indicate those countries don't have sufficient protections in place. Child brides are very common in parts of the world, as are low ages of consent (compared to 18yo in much of the USA)

Reminds me of people in certain countries who claim homosexuality doesn't exist there. Just because a society doesn't want to acknowledge a something doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

Thank you for saying something, I didn't want to because I didn't want to open a can of worms and didn't have the energy for it.

 

[StylishCynic]

American Vogue published their annual interview with retailers around what sold best in the 2022 calendar year.

Balencaiga isn't mentioned once. This is a blatant absence when every other major brand is mentioned multiple times by multiple retailers.

Balenciaga was obviously a mover from Q1 - Q3 across all categories and genders. There's no way to read into this omission than legal teams –Conde, retailer in-house, or both– advising that the brand expunged from the interviews and/or the published piece.