Demna Gvasalia - Designer, Creative Director of Balenciaga

[KoV]

Right. Let me rephrase. "The fact that one of the sizes of an item they listed in August is now sold out doesn't really indicate in any way that Balenciaga hasn’t experienced a financial disaster since the controversy that took off in late November."

 

[gallianostan]

i think i'd concur with @fenty who suggested earlier that they might do a presentation instead of a live show. missing a season would just vindicate the mobs and prove that things are quite bad. but, as we considered, who's going to attend the show? who is brave enough to associate themselves with the brand at the moment? a presentation would be lowkey and at least create the impression that the brand still has its sh*t together (even if it doesn't, which seems to be the case).

 

[Deleted member 7575]

.

I will preface this by saying I have hated Demna's Balenciaga since day one, and I will be as overjoyed as anyone when his exit is confirmed; so I would not hesitate to accept this truly overblown scandal as a catalyst for the brand to get rid of him and hopefully move on to a new designer (someone more in line with Ghesquiere's rigorous futurism rather than the sloppy Soviet dad jeans and all-over logo monstrosities we have been getting from a brand that used to be completely above that sort of low-grade logo-wh*re BS) ....

With that out of the way, while I don't doubt for a moment that sales are (way) down, there are definitely people buying Balenciaga online (where you don't have to be "the one A-hole in the empty store" that everyone else is turning up their nose at) in not-inconsiderable quantities in the past couple of weeks. Just take a look through new arrivals at Ssense and Mr.Porter and you will see:

• an ugly coated-cotton DB blazer for $4000 with only one remaining because the rest sold out
• an ugly cliché sketch-embellished trucker jacket with only one remaining because the rest sold out
• an ugly leather blazer for $6000+ sold out at least one size in full price because there are only 2 left
• a truly hideous torn-hem jean shorts for $1100+ sold out in a couple sizes
• an ugly long-sleeve tee priced at $1110 sold out in the most popular sizes
• a sickeningly ugly "XXXL Balenciaga" hoodie for $1450 sold out in the small sizes
• an ugly all-over logo sweatshirt for $1700 (that nobody should have considered buying even when it was a new "design" years ago) is available in two colours, each sold out in at least one size
• more ugly $1000 jean shorts with only one size available
• an ugly $775 necklace that looks like something bought from a low-end pet store sold out in one of two sizes

There are probably more but it's upsetting looking at that much ugly crap all at once, even without thinking about how the nine items above cost more than most people's first car, so I had to stop.

I don't care about the reason, just #GetRidOfDemna

It would be good to know when those items sold out and what the original quantity was.

My guess is the sell-through happened quite early in the season.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

^ Thanks for that, you did some research when the request was for just another anecdote in the opposite direction (so my friend who has a friend who is pals with Demna..).

I agree with what you said, except I don't hate Demna's Balenciaga, I'm completely indifferent to Balenciaga as a company, never really been into the Wendy's and McDonald's of fashion..

I do wish people into fashion (as an interest or as a profession) would be more resistant to the ever so irresistible gossip/second-hand information and would value data, empirical evidence and reputable sources a bit more. It sounds like a minor, 'it's not that deep' issue but this lazy way of understanding and processing information and the eagerness to react to it and inform taste and expectations around it is one of the reasons fashion is so mediocre and a short-term source of entertainment these days. Schadenfreude is quicker to feed than the boring work of research and education and of course the exhausting months between your need for gossip and a sales report to come out. It's just a bit unfortunate that these immediate 'sensations' are about as much as the average fashion consumer/enthusiast can handle now, at all times. Fashion File would've never gone anywhere with an infantile audience..

I can only share what I know and hear--which is kind of the point of participating on a message board and posting to this thread. For obvious reasons I can't tell you who or which retailer any details I share refer to. Don't worry, I have no reason to lie to try to impress a bunch of random anonymous strangers.

I just assume everybody here has the common sense to not rely on this message board as a source for actual reporting.

Otherwise, you should subscribe to WWD like I do. It has plenty of fact-based reporting and well-researched analysis.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

i think i'd concur with @fenty who suggested earlier that they might do a presentation instead of a live show. missing a season would just vindicate the mobs and prove that things are quite bad. but, as we considered, who's going to attend the show? who is brave enough to associate themselves with the brand at the moment? a presentation would be lowkey and at least create the impression that the brand still has its sh*t together (even if it doesn't, which seems to be the case).

I don't think it's so crazy to attend the show.

From a journalism standpoint, it's important to go and see what's happening and report on it.

It might be a bigger issue for celebrities. But maybe the brand will just have to do without that star power to help sell themselves for a season or two.

It's a great opportunity to reach out to their audience as well as renew confidence among retailers. But a lot can happen between now and then.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

You would have to a fool not to attend the next show. Just imagine the gossip and chatter you would overhear. It's going to be a hot mess and I would love to be there to witness it first hand.

 

[LadyJunon]

You would have to a fool not to attend the next show. Just imagine the gossip and chatter you would overhear. It's going to be a hot mess and I would love to be there to witness it first hand.

Personally, I'd like to be in the ateliers solely to watch Demna and his team pull their hair out from the stress.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

You would have to a fool not to attend the next show. Just imagine the gossip and chatter you would overhear. It's going to be a hot mess and I would love to be there to witness it first hand.

Ditto

 

[jeanclaude]

Personally, I'd like to be in the ateliers solely to watch Demna and his team pull their hair out from the stress.

Demna is bald...

 

[Steddycam91]

The problem with this whole controversy is that Kering can’t chalk it up to being an anomaly, or a gigantic one-off mistake or a complete misunderstanding. Demna’s whole aesthetic (*cough* schtick) has been largely predicated on a perverse sort of nihilism and an edgelord creepiness, and he seemingly had free reign to take it further and further with the last few shows. The unsettling apocalyptic show sets, the freakish-looking models grimacing and stomping to the blaring techno soundtracks…As long as the bags and the logo’d items were selling, Kering was fine to let Demna continue going down this road.

I wonder what a “toned down” version of Demna will potentially be like going forward. Is there still a “there” there? I guess he could just rely on the craftsmanship of the atelier to do all the heavy lifting. That’s what he did for the couture shows anyway…

 

[LadyJunon]

Demna is bald...

He probably has body hair to pull out...

The problem with this whole controversy is that Kering can’t chalk it up to being an anomaly, or a gigantic one-off mistake or a complete misunderstanding. Demna’s whole aesthetic (*cough* schtick) has been largely predicated on a perverse sort of nihilism and an edgelord creepiness, and he seemingly had free reign to take it further and further with the last few shows. The unsettling apocalyptic show sets, the freakish-looking models grimacing and stomping to the blaring techno soundtracks…As long as the bags and the logo’d items were selling, Kering was fine to let Demna continue going down this road.

I wonder what a “toned down” version of Demna will potentially be like going forward. Is there still a “there” there? I guess he could just rely on the craftsmanship of the atelier to do all the heavy lifting. That’s what he did for the couture shows anyway…

Without the "showmanship", Demna's collections, as they are, run the risk of reading more explicitly as the merchandise it is instead the directional fashion it pretends to be. Fall'23 is going have to be really good to save this tenure.

I remember posting something very early last year about Demna's Balenciaga "peaking". Who would've thought it'd manifest like this?

 

[donyan]

To be honest I am completely over this whole thing. Everything has been completely blown out of proportion, and I don’t think for a minute that Demna or anyone else at Balenciaga is what they’re saying he is .
I was hoping that it would all calm down during the holidays but a quick search on Twitter tells me it hasn’t and won’t - it’s been taken hostage by the alt-right and conspiracy groups and is now part of their online presence. I really don’t know what Kering can do to stop this now . It’s really very scary.

 

[Machinegumm]

F*ck around and find out. They tried to be edgy and controversial for the sake of attention, hoping it would somehow translate to more sales. Congratulations, you pushed it too far and played directly into the hands of conspiracy nutters. They think that everyone associated with the brand or buying anything from it is part of the lizard-p*do-illuminati-whatever.
Stunts like this just don't work with today's social media anymore. And from the little I know about these groups, they will. not. let. this. go. They simply weave it into their continued narrative.
Thanks for giving an incredibly hostile group ammo. Well done. Bravo. Balenciaga is now known as the brand with the pro-p*do ads.

 

[LadyJunon]

To be honest I am completely over this whole thing. Everything has been completely blown out of proportion, and I don’t think for a minute that Demna or anyone else at Balenciaga is what they’re saying he is .
I was hoping that it would all calm down during the holidays but a quick search on Twitter tells me it hasn’t and won’t - it’s been taken hostage by the alt-right and conspiracy groups and is now part of their online presence. I really don’t know what Kering can do to stop this now . It’s really very scary.

F*ck around and find out. They tried to be edgy and controversial for the sake of attention, hoping it would somehow translate to more sales. Congratulations, you pushed it too far and played directly into the hands of conspiracy nutters. They think that everyone associated with the brand or buying anything from it is part of the lizard-p*do-illuminati-whatever.
Stunts like this just don't work with today's social media anymore. And from the little I know about these groups, they will. not. let. this. go. They simply weave it into their continued narrative.
Thanks for giving an incredibly hostile group ammo. Well done. Bravo. Balenciaga is now known as the brand with the pro-p*do ads.

Balenciaga played their cards and will get the appropriate consequences. They did something in very poor taste with no context, failed to acknowledge it and then passed the blame onto someone else. Also the only other creative director to be hired after Kering's acquisition, Alexander Wang, is an alleged r*pist, which doesn't help either.

The thing that really upsets me about this is that people are dragging other innocent Kering affiliated people into this. I always see a couple of comments lurking on YSL, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen's social media despite them having completely separate teams, goals and operations. Remember the hate comments for that YSL × Madonna thing, a consenting adult woman.

The fact that they haven't found out about Artémis (Kering's mother company and the owners of Courrèges and Giambattista Valli) really shows that the extent of conspiracy theorists' knowledge (or care to research) is quite shallow and their interests are more geared towards getting clicks and cultivating rage.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

To be honest I am completely over this whole thing. Everything has been completely blown out of proportion, and I don’t think for a minute that Demna or anyone else at Balenciaga is what they’re saying he is .
I was hoping that it would all calm down during the holidays but a quick search on Twitter tells me it hasn’t and won’t - it’s been taken hostage by the alt-right and conspiracy groups and is now part of their online presence. I really don’t know what Kering can do to stop this now . It’s really very scary.

I have no issue with Demna, but Charbit, the CEO is definitely a scoundrel.

They tried to lie and completely f*ck over the production company and set designer.

They were going to ruin them financially and kill their careers.

Could you imagine being hired for a job and doing exactly what you were told to do and working really hard on it and then later this s*** blows up and the people who hired you, who loved your work before, slap you with a million dollar lawsuit?

I'm sorry, but that makes me so damn angry. That's WRONG. Charbit is a piece of sh*t and he's the man in charge.

If I were talent agency, I would never let any of my clients work for that management team EVER.

 

[Machinegumm]

*sigh* This is just so frustrating, because it was entirely avoidable.

 

[yslforever]

Is it new to me or I may have missed a collection, but I have just noticed that all of their new clothes are non-branded ? I mean the latest womens and mens RTW arrivals (after the Adidas collab), there are absolutely no logo nor monogram, to be seen. It this their marketing response: erasing all the large BALENCIAGA and BB which used to be everywhere and on every piece ?

 

[LadyJunon]

Is it new to me or I may have missed a collection, but I have just noticed that all of their new clothes are non-branded ? I mean the latest womens and mens RTW arrivals (after the Adidas collab), there are absolutely no logo nor monogram, to be seen. It this their marketing response: erasing all the large BALENCIAGA and BB which used to be everywhere and on every piece ?

There's a couple of logo pieces, but the print is so small, they'd read as stripes from a metre's distance.

We might be approaching a third "quiet era" for Balenciaga.

 

[Lola701]

Personally, I'd like to be in the ateliers solely to watch Demna and his team pull their hair out from the stress.

That’s the saddest thing in a way. The Atelier generally cares more about the reviews coming the next day but they are the ones who have to endure all the stress during the whole creation of the collections during those times. To take the added pressure to something you have absolutely no involvement in and that put the whole company in jeopardy (even for a small period) is kinda unfair.

Fashion week is coming but so are the financial reports. It will be impossible for KERING to not comment on Balenciaga and reassure not only the shareholders but also the press.

As for the show, let’s face it. Balenciaga will always be associated with the campaign and trolls on the internet will likely always put something related to that under any post related to Balenciaga. So probably doing sensationalist sets like the mud and the play on irony would be in poor taste but a small show with Demna friends and maybe some loyal celebrities can still happen.

 

[jeanclaude]

Poor Demna...now that he can´t rely on using logos everywhere, he has no other way but actually designing...OMG, Demna working in the atelier!!!