Dear Shaded viewers,
At the helm of Balenciaga for almost 10 years, Demna Gvasalia’s designs are amongst the most recognized in the fashion industry. For SS25, he lined the fashion press and celebrities alike along a 150-foot polished dining table, a flashback to the paper fashion shows he held on his grandmother’s table in Georgia as a child. In the same week that Kering announced Demna’s contract at Balenciaga had been renewed for an unspecified term, the collection served as a reflection on his career, the pressures he faces as a designer, and his future directions. In case there was any doubt, Balenciaga’s SS25 show invitations were personalized gold rings, symbolizing Demna’s commitment to fashion design.
To explore a domain that Demna admits he has neglected, the SS25 show opened with lingerie. But contrary to tradition, the focus wasn’t on sex appeal or a commentary on fragility, instead lacey underwear was transformed into a kind of armor. Bras, teddies, garter belts, stockings, and panties were embroidered, encrusted, or jacquard knitted onto flesh-colored bodysuits and pantashoes. The trompe l’oeil created a false sense of intimacy and sensuality, where through Demna’s subversive and hardcore signature, no real skin or weaknesses are revealed.
The vintage-inspired silk dresses that followed were more fitting for sharing the table with Gvasalia’s grandmother. But as soon as their high necks, mid-length skirts, and bishops’ sleeves crossed the eyeline, their backs revealed a different story entirely. From behind, bodies were covered merely by corset-style closures with thick black tightlacing, with each ribbon hanging loose and dragging along the floor. The corset style continued with black denim sets with skinny silhouettes. Stemming from the desire to explore more intimate sides of fashion, Demna’s proposition for lingerie and corsetry has a dark, almost controlling energy. But, it raises the question: is Demna the one being controlled, or the one doing the controlling?
The underwear propositions segued into more familiar Demna-isms. He dedicated outwear designs to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s cocoon shape, but recontextualized it in modern styles: puffers, bombers, denim jackets, and hoodies, with neoprene interfacing to hold a puffed shape. For men these were paired with super low-waisted jeans with anatomic darts that left hip bones and whale tails exposed. For women, daisy dukes saw their missing pant legs connected to boots, leaving upper thighs exposed. The slivers of skin reiterated the introduction of sensuality into Demna’s design language without disrupting the guarded design codes he’s developed over the years. Two of the hoodies bore the words “fashion designer” and “human being,” a reminder that a man still lies behind the constant tensions imposed upon him as Creative Director.
The cocoon jacket looks were paired with 360 wraparound mono-lens sunglasses, covering the eyeline like a mask to create anonymity. This concept was taken further in the following looks, where caps were extended to cover the face with perforated fronts for visibility. They propose a way of hiding in plain sight, a shield fit for city walking. But while they were designed to hide one’s identity, they are immediately recognizable as part of the Balenciaga universe – thanks to Demna’s unwavering consistency in defining the House’s contemporary DNA.
Demna then turned to what he believes fashion needs more of: disruption. He views his role in the industry as a disruptor, challenging the overly polished images and ideals of perfection. Through his designs, he hopes to allow fashion to be more “fucked up” and fearless, and explores different conceptions of what it can be. Continuing an idea from several past seasons, long coats were constructed as if multiple garments were piled atop one another. These layers were now seen in darker colors and with more haphazard, oversized silhouettes. The new Commuter Tote bag played into the designs as well, with shirt sleeves, keychains with dangling AirPods adding to the pile-up. The image of these garments reminds us of clothes racked up after editorials, the build-up on the laundry chair, mindless shopping, and meaningless wearing… design after design. A distinct idea of a “fashion victim” begins to emerge.
From there, a complete turn from the nearly naked opening looks, Demna proposed new uses and mechanisms for familiar garments. Sculptural lines emerged with funnel neck collars, inspired by the Medici’s of the 17th century, that doubled as bustiers to transform oversized leather jackets and a woolen trench coat into dresses. Starched jeans stood at the lapels of coats, also to become collars. Following these, a hinging mechanism that the team worked on for over a year allowed bustier inspired tops to click around the rib cage. Their frames were wrapped with flexible spandex, held around the body like an oversized bracelet that appeared to float. In mostly black, nude, and with a touch of pink, these looks seemed to lack details, representing a new phase of design development that Demna is moving towards, a shift from his now signature pileups into a new era for Balenciaga.
The final series of looks were ultra-constructed double breasted spencer jackets and a scuba satin gown. Extreme shoulder and waist merged Cristobal Balenciaga’s emblematic hourglass shape with architectural lines in one single garment. The shoulders protruded dramatically, and centered within, an optical illusion narrowed the waist while the back remained broad. A perfectly square silhouette ended the show.
The soundtrack began subdued, but by the flood of the show the archaic, rebellious energy of ‘Gimme More’ by Britney Spears on repeat left no doubts on Demna’s message: everyone always wants more. Through Balenciaga’s SS25 collection, Demna Gvasalia reminded us of the multitude of demands set on each garment he sends out and his unwavering commitment to keep sending them out. He opened by challenging the notion of intimacy, an area that he admittedly neglects, with lingerie and cocooned outwear that ultimately shielded true sensuality. Layering and oversized silhouettes have become synonymous with Balenciaga of today, but SS25 saw a beginning of metamorphosis into new garment mechanisms and sculptural propositions ending in couture. While honoring the House’s traditions and legacy, Demna reminds us that he is always one step ahead towards the future of fashion, while subverting expectations, he is appeasing buyers, corporate, and critics. He doesn’t have to affirm his role in the fashion world, so instead he reminds us of his unwavering dedication to the craft, all beginning 35 years ago when he was a little boy making paper fashion shows on his grandmother’s kitchen table.
Later,
Eliya
