It’s Demna’s world, we’re just living in it
The Kardashian-Barker wedding in Italy was the focus of one half of the internet on Sunday, while the other half was enthralled by Demna-ism as the creative director of Balenciaga unveiled his Spring/Summer 23 collection in New York. Demna picked the New York Stock Exchange as the ideal setting for his first presentation in America to illustrate the notion that “Money Is the Biggest Fetish In the World.” As was to be expected, A-listers from various fields gathered to witness Demna’s mysterious anthropological magic in action. Powerful people filled the front row, including the mayor of New York City, reality personality Christine Quinn, and actors and musicians like Megan Thee Stallion and Alexa Demi.
Demna is perfect in the eyes of the fashion crowd; this is supported by his latest performance. Nobody mixes pop culture with fashion better than Demna, whether it be by dressing one of the most famous celebrities, like Kim Kardashian, incognito for the MET Gala last year or by staging a real fashion show inside the legendary comedy The Simpsons.
Balenciaga this season portrayed a really troubled vision of couture and capitalism, rejecting the picture-perfect and lovely ideal in fashion. Even the invitation to the performance was provided in counterfeit form. The presentation opened with models completely covered in latex wearing all-black trench coats, pantsuits, jackets, and huge stomping boots to capture the fast-paced business world. Models were told to quickly walk through the crowd instead of strutting like swans to represent the urban realities of life. The models’ identities were hidden beneath masks, leaving barely enough room for them to see and breathe. As a result, fashion took centre stage. Workwear but with a matrix design (with a side of dominatrix).
Demna’s Balenciaga breaks all that fashion conventions are intended to be. On the one hand, premium businesses are adamant about promoting logomania, but nowhere in the garments from Balenciaga will you find the name front and centre as an aspect of desire. Demna has skillfully played with the sporty label’s stripes emblem while keeping the Balenciaga lettering subtle in this line, despite the fact that it features an Adidas cooperation. Demna has once again used fashion as a tool to hold society up as evidence that he is not scared to express his opinions. Demna’s Balenciaga is daring, but it’s never without a reason, whether it was his previously unstated support for Ukraine through his collection or his targeted jab at capitalism with this one.
