Demnamorphosis
Review of Balenciaga Fall 2024 Couture Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
THE THEME
The concept of transforming “everyday” clothing into “high fashion” isn’t anything new for Demna or for fashion more broadly, but today’s Balenciaga couture show was one of the most successful and beautiful examples of Demna’s distinct take on that era-defining trend yet.
The collection began with a remastering of the most “everyday” look of all – jeans and a T-shirt – transformed through material and a couturier’s eye for proportionality into something greater. The broad proportions of the shoulders in particular reference the game-changing silhouette perspective of Cristóbal Balenciaga himself, while the wide dome hats make reference to those of Demna’s own couture debut, this time adorned with feathers or sculpturally draped with T-shirts. This juxtaposition that is nonetheless a subtle coming together of high and low, couture and convention continues across other familiar casual categories like puffer jackets, denim, hoodies, and bombers, all made newly impactful through their retooled proportions. Then, the eleventh look stuns us with its gorgeous moth mask.
From here, Demna spreads his wings and the process of transformation becomes more fully realized. A sporty nylon jacket has the curving shoulders and cinched waist of an archival Balenciaga bolero; synthetic fur is cut and assembled according to traditional fur patternmaking techniques; dresses that seem to be made of thrifted sportswear jackets nonetheless deserve to be on the red carpet. Sometimes these hybrid designs feel like new iterations of the gimmicks we’ve seen from Demna before, but for the most part the collection does feel like a more refined expression of this trickster perspective.
THE BUZZWORDS
Up to 3 key words (five max) that encapsulate the collection
THE SHOWSTOPPER
Look #39
What does it mean that the cocoon appears after the butterflies at the end of the collection? Whether it’s emblematic of Demna’s process of creative transformation reaching across time or simply a decision to save the best for last, this web of sculptural softness is a feat of artistry, and looked stunning as it glided through the salon.
THE DIRECTION
While the show’s soundtrack that featured a guided mediation on cultivating happiness over a barely-there ambient soundscape was a fun an ironic choice, it’s hard to decode whether it’s supposed to shed any light on a collection that was a furthering of a creative practice that some might call cynical.
THE WRAP UP
A steady evolution of Demna’s current phase of hybridity and juxtaposition, the collection both leans into the traditional elements of couture – technical innovation, painstaking craft mastery, a conveyance of power – while ironically elevating the clothing categories that are left out of this process.
