Demna Gvasalia - Designer, Creative Director of Balenciaga

[GoldenTribe]

"... fashion orientated, very, like, shape."

Vacuous much?

I have a feeling he knows attention spans are so short that by the time we see more dad-denim / cotton-jersey / all-over-logo monstrosities coming down the runway, nobody will even remember the broken promise.

Even if he does -- finally -- move on from his tedious refugee aesthetic (I am confident no-one who is literate will confuse this for a criticism of refugees), I lost interest a long time ago and I won't give my attention to this brand again until someone new is at the helm. A little taste and a little restraint wouldn't hurt, either.

 

[gallianostan]

"... fashion orientated, very, like, shape."

that really should tell us all we need to know about this talentless hack.

 

[jeanclaude]

"We are allowed a mistake at a group like Kering, we are not allowed to make the same mistake twice, but we are allowed a mistake.”

It was not a mistake. It was a chain of mistakes, one after another. And making the statement above adds another one...

 

[balmain1914]

I hope him gone for good

 

[Mutterlein]

This post gives a few hints as to what we should expect for the Fall'23 show:

I'm interested.

That headline reads like an Onion article.

 

[Salvatore]

It feels like this

 

[blueorchid]

It's giving me fashion equivalent of Harry Styles saying the movie he was starring in "feels like a movie."

 

[yslforever]

I spent 20 minutes on various online stores, they still have a lot of that Adidas collab for sale. I have seen any or very few new products ....

 

[Demna]

Demna's Balenciaga is over:

 

[Demna]

And Eliza's post sounds like Demna's departure sooner than later.

 

[MyNameIs]

Demna's Balenciaga is over:

Those prices are crazy for sure, but what is the problem exactly? They're a private company, producing luxury goods. They're not obligated to make their goods "accessible." It's not a human right to be able to afford a Balenciaga jacket. It's simple supply and demand. They must have the clientele for their goods at those prices if they continue to charge them. People are so entitled these days.

 

[Lola701]

He should leave and relaunch Vetements in a big way.
I feel like his moment is passing…
It’s almost terrible to see that this collection hasn’t had the impact expected by KERING.

There was a French journalist who said in French tv that this collection showed that without the showmanship, scandal and gimmicks, There’s nothing interesting about Balenciaga. I was so shocked that someone would say that in one of the most popular talk show! Even the guest were surprised by t that!

 

[Demna]

Those prices are crazy for sure, but what is the problem exactly? They're a private company, producing luxury goods. They're not obligated to make their goods "accessible." It's not a human right to be able to afford a Balenciaga jacket. It's simple supply and demand. They must have the clientele for their goods at those prices if they continue to charge them. People are so entitled these days.

I didn't state if it's ok or not. It's on purpose. This is just a Kering strategy to get rid of Demna asap.

 

[perhydrol]

I'm not sure if it's about getting rid of Demna ASAP. While it's pretty obvious his contract won't get renewed, Kering still has to have an interest to sell his collections, as Balenciaga has to earn money. At the same time, Kering has been going through a serious crisis and that may be the primary reason why the pricing is so high. Is it the right strategy? Well, it may work for a craft-oriented brand such as Bottega Veneta, but Balenciaga is too focused on fashion now and people don't really know about the possibilities of their craftsmanship. Demna is not helping in that regard either, even if he has access to the couture atelier.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

Yeah they're probably trying to squeeze in the cash lost from everyone who stopped buying by tacking on higher prices to the people who actually do buy this stuff. I'm the first one to complain about how expensive everything is but this just seems par for the course at this point. I mean a Chanel medium flap is $10,200 now so why not just make everything else a million dollars too

 

[MyNameIs]

I didn't state if it's ok or not. It's on purpose. This is just a Kering strategy to get rid of Demna asap.

Oh, I was commenting on the instagram post. My bad.

 

[LadyJunon]

I'm not sure if it's about getting rid of Demna ASAP. While it's pretty obvious his contract won't get renewed, Kering still has to have an interest to sell his collections, as Balenciaga has to earn money. At the same time, Kering has been going through a serious crisis and that may be the primary reason why the pricing is so high. Is it the right strategy? Well, it may work for a craft-oriented brand such as Bottega Veneta, but Balenciaga is too focused on fashion now and people don't really know about the possibilities of their craftsmanship. Demna is not helping in that regard either, even if he has access to the couture atelier.

Balenciaga under Ghesquière was around the same in price, but it seemed more justified as Ghesquière's propositions for Balenciaga were often quite hardcore in terms of ready-to-wear craftsmanship. Balenciaga under Ghesquière was like a Proto-Balmain in a way.

I didn't state if it's ok or not. It's on purpose. This is just a Kering strategy to get rid of Demna asap.

I don't think that they're going to outright "yeet" Demna from Balenciaga, but I definitely feel that this recent show was will have determined the future of Balenciaga by Demna:

If successful, it would become the "iconic palette cleanser" that would allow a rebirth and redemption of Demna's Balenciaga after the scandal. Demna continues at Balenciaga with his new outlook on designing for Balenciaga.

If unsuccessful, it will allow Demna's Balenciaga to fade in the background so they can replace him and refurbish Balenciaga without much disappointment. Sabato de Sarno debuts at Gucci in September and Demna's contract rounds up to eight years the month after, so I'm guessing that Kering will take action around then.

He should leave and relaunch Vetements in a big way.
I feel like his moment is passing…
It’s almost terrible to see that this collection hasn’t had the impact expected by KERING.

If Demna has accepted his fate and/or is planning to revive Vêtements, he'll probably have to do something radically different from his previous work AND what fashion is doing now.

 

[perhydrol]

Balenciaga under Ghesquière was around the same in price, but it seemed more justified as Ghesquière's propositions for Balenciaga were often quite hardcore in terms of ready-to-wear craftsmanship. Balenciaga under Ghesquière was like a Proto-Balmain in a way

That's the thing: while Ghesquiere's prices were somehow justified because of the demi-couture techniques and the niche character of the brand back in the days, Demna will always be associated with cheap jersey and sneakers, no matter how hard he tried to cosplay a couturier.

 

[Kikala]

His job is pretty safe for 2 years until the new contract I guess. After the recent show Demna even said that he didn't take a bow because that would mean the end and its not the end for him in Balenciaga yet. Maybe its because of Gucci crisis, or kering already invested too much in his vision (first Demna fragnance is on its way) but Pinault seems to protecting him.

 

[Constructionist]

Do they think that people are going to start buying their clothes again with this news? Have a reality check. How about sending out a good design, gimmick-free collection next season?

Try to be a fashion house again first before you become an NGO.

With this 3 years plan, I think they are sticking with Demna until his contract expired. Considering the survived the eye of the storm they're not going to fire him now.

Hey, who's your pfp?