Latest news with #Demna
New York Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Men's Fashion Week Moments That Had Us Talking
It's the custom at fashion magazines and print media of all kinds: When a colleague leaves the publication amicably, their parting gift is a mock-up of the title's cover featuring their face photoshopped onto Bella or Gigi Hadid's body, surrounded by fake cover lines written to gently roast and congratulate. One imagines Anna Wintour will receive an entire September issue (circa 2012) in her honor upon her exit from Vogue after 37 years as editor in chief. News that the day had finally come tore through the Thursday evening crowd at Rick Owens's spring 2026 men's show at the Palais de Tokyo after Vogue and several other news outlets published somewhat confusing reports of her plans to hire a new head of editorial content at the magazine. It's difficult to compete with male models scaling pirate and paganesque scaffolding erected in the middle of the museum's fountain, through which they traipsed and occasionally dolphin-dove while wearing Mr. Owens's hot goth garb and vertiginous Perspex platform heels. But Ms. Wintour managed to distract in absentia. According to Puck, the news that she was potentially retiring inspired Mr. Owens to change his show's finale music to 'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead.' Well, not so fast. She is, but she isn't. The staff at Balenciaga borrowed from the commemorative magazine playbook to celebrate the decade-long tenure of Demna, the fashion house's outgoing creative director, whose final show is July 9 during couture. Then he's off to Gucci. At the opening reception of the 'Balenciaga by Demna' exhibition on Wednesday at the Paris headquarters of the Kering luxury giant, guests found the show's catalog designed in the bright, gaudy, sensationalist style of a Cosmopolitan or Glamour of yore. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Evening Standard
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Jonathan Anderson's Dior debut: Rihanna, Robert Pattinson, Daniel Craig, Sabrina Carpenter lead arrivals
As Paris Fashion Week rumbles on, all eyes will remain firmly fixed on Anderson — and what this bold new era for Dior might bring. Other highlights count Jacquemus, Kenzo and Hermès before it's couture time. Starting July 7, everyone fashion literate should keep an eye out for Demna's final collection for Balenciaga, before he takes the reins at Gucci, as well as have an opinion on Glenn Martens' debut at Maison Margiela, where he fills outgoing head John Galliano's rather large Tabi boots.
Fashion United
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Retrospective: Kering celebrates Demna Gvasalia's fashion creations for Balenciaga
The 'Balenciaga by Demna' exhibition was held at Kering. Open until July 9, 2025, it traced Gvasalia's journey as creative director of Balenciaga, from 2015 to 2025. The cross-shaped installation had a religious feel. It began with a photocopy of the first email exchange between Balenciaga and Gvasalia, in which the brand stated it was not interested in his services. Ironically, 'Balenciaga by Demna' showed how the Georgian designer created an original artistic field, differentiating the fashion house from other luxury brands and establishing it as a hyper-contemporary label. Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne The exhibition revealed his main source of inspiration was everyday objects, to which he gave a luxurious dimension: passports and boarding passes; dollars; shopping bags; and, most strikingly, a bag of spicy chilli crisps turned into a handbag. Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne Gvasalia explained the creative process behind each piece (accessory or garment) via an audio system. Regarding the crisps, he recounted arriving at the studio one day without a bag and putting his belongings in the crisp packet, thus sparking an idea for the marketers. Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne Another fundamental aspect of his stylistic narrative, which built upon the previous one, was repurposing; a principle likely inherited from his experience at Margiela. A dress made from a compilation of bras; a jacket formed with used leather boots; T-shirts and hoodies assembled to create a dress; and cowboy boots turned into a bag were all inspiring demonstrations of upcycling. Demna by Balenciaga Credits: F. Julienne Demna by Balenciaga Credits: F. Julienne 'Demna by Balenciaga': reconstruction of a contemporary cultural heritage Iconic pieces remained, such as the Speed Trainer (2017). 'This was the first trainer we created at Balenciaga. It has a technical sock-like upper attached to an ultralight sole,' Gvasalia explained in a voiceover. 'I wanted a trainer that you could just slip on without having to tie laces or anything. Just an easy, practical and comfortable shoe. It has since become a product that has completely redefined the way we design shoes and has led to a whole new aesthetic for trainers globally.' Demna by Balenciaga Credits: F. Julienne Another example was the haute couture bell dress in rigid guipure lace. 'It has no visible structural elements, apart from a few invisibly placed threads inside, which allows for a true moulding of the silhouette, inspired by the paintings of Velázquez,' Gvasalia commented. 'The dress was designed and crafted to be as fluid and seamless as possible, then shaped using a technique called 'blocking', a process that took an almost infinite amount of time to achieve.' Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne References to sportswear and workwear were present, as were deconstructed suits with broad shoulders. However, there was no allusion to the negative publicity that had surrounded Balenciaga. The visit ended with a 'thank you' from the designer, in French, and visitors received a magazine-style catalogue compiling all the exhibited pieces. Demna by Balenciaga Credits: F. Julienne Demna by Balenciaga Credits: F. Julienne Gvasalia's subsequent role at Kering, as creative director of Gucci, was alluded to through a bag from the Gucci × Balenciaga 'Hacker Project' collaboration (2021). The monogram of the former Italian fashion house bore the inscription: 'This is not a Gucci bag'. What the future 'it' bag for Gucci would be remained to be seen. Balenciaga by Demna Credits: F. Julienne This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Demna Narrates His Balenciaga Retrospective — All at Once
The new 'Balenciaga by Demna' exhibition in Paris features some of the Georgian designer's own clothes, his voice — and the irreverence and design innovation that defined his decade at the Paris house. It opens with a retrospective of his fashion show invitations — a microcosm of his wry commentaries on luxury, and boundary-stretching antics — and a rejection letter dated 2007, when he was a student at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts and had applied for a menswear internship at Balenciaga. More from WWD Tate McRae Sharpens Black Gown With Pointed Heels for 'F1: The Movie' London Premiere Balenciaga and Puma Launch Their Collection, Including a Ballerina Sneaker and a Reimagined 'Destroyed' Speedcat Was Paul Poiret Fashion's First Lifestyle Guru? 'We've carefully reviewed your application and, after consideration, we will not be moving forward with your candidacy at this time,' it reads. Demna's voiceover — which competes with 49 others, creating a cacophony of voices in a vast showroom space at Kering headquarters — expresses relief, for his professional journey might have turned out differently had he received a yes. After graduating with a master's degree in fashion design in 2006, Demna went on to work for Walter van Beirendonck, Maison Margiela and Louis Vuitton before cofounding Vetements in 2014, and assuming the helm of Balenciaga the following year. He is to wrap up his tenure on July 9 with a swan-song Balenciaga couture show before officially taking the design helm of Gucci — which he foreshadows by including an ensemble from his 2021 Hacking Project, which hinged on 'conceptual interpretations of Gucci's recognizable signatures as Balenciaga products.' There is humor in the content — an open laptop broadcasts the 10-minute episode of 'The Simpsons | Balenciaga' screened at his raucous 'Red Carpet' show — and the methods of display, some garments shown on hangars plucked straight from the archive racks, single shoes rotating like an A&W sign of yore. An eerily lifelike mannequin of artist Eliza Douglas, one of Demna's fetish models, recurs twice, modeling the opening look from his debut show for spring 2016, and a semi-fitted gown in scuba satin from spring 2025. A red 'swing' puffer worn off the shoulder like an evening gown, also from his debut collection, shows how Demna reinterpreted silhouettes from founder Cristóbal Balenciaga. His penchant for trompe-l'œil recurs in several looks, while 'ready-made' designs include a clutch purse shaped like a stolen side-view mirror, and a bangle cast in resin to resemble a roll of packing tape. In his narration, Demna explains that he once repurposed a real potato chip bag to hold his phone and other essentials while attending an event. Paparazzi photos aroused curiosity in the Lay's and Doritos of the world — and Balenciaga's merchandising team. To wit: A long-running accessories franchise was born, the pouches crafted in leather with a metallic interior. The designer includes a few of his most controversial designs, including a blue leather duffel that resembles an Ikea Frakta carryall, and his $925 towel skirt, an example of how 'spontaneous gestures' can spark design ideas. 'I love that it makes you question whether this is a joke or not,' Demna says in his narration. 'It's great to question things. Bye bye!' The tongue-in-cheek, thumb-in-the-eye attitude extends through to the exhibition catalogue, printed to resemble a mid-market glossy with too many cover lines, and a fake ad for a Balenciaga watch, bearing a caseback instead of the time. In total, there are 101 exhibits spanning 30 collections and loads of experimentation in volumes, silhouettes and attitude, including his 'fake layering coat' from winter 2018 and perhaps too many 'pantashoes.' 'After this, I promise it's the last one in this exhibition,' he implores toward the end of the cross-shaped display. The exhibition is open to the public from Thursday through July 9 via online registration. Best of WWD Bottega Veneta Through the Years Chanel's Ambassadors Over The Years Ranking Fashion's Longest-serving Creative Directors
Hypebeast
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
PUMA x Balenciaga FW25 Nods a True Demna Staple: The Tracksuit
Balenciagahas officially launched its collaboration withPUMA, originally teased last March during the brand'sParis Fashion WeekFW25 runway show. The tie-up, part ofDemna's second-to-last Balenciaga collection, reiterates the tracksuit as a central archetype in the designer's language — one that seeks to subvert long-held ideas of luxury, all with an ironic wink. Theearlier runway presentationwas a tame reprisal of the tenured creative director's lexicon: a toned-down mix of classic and bold-shouldered tailoring, normcore numbers, and form-fitting sportswear dominated by a largely grayscale palette. However, towards the middle of the show, PUMA's inclusion initiated a shift in tone, bringing deep blue and primary red into play and spotlighting Demna's affinity for tracksuits and sweatsuits. In addition to crested football training sets, logo-taped tracksuit separates, and 90s-inspired windbreakers, PUMA's contributions included standard logo caps, socks, gloves, and a PUMA x Balenciaga shopping bag. The collection is also topped with multiple colorways and distressed variants of the Speedcat and an original Ballerina slipper. Though the PUMA assortment stands out from the subdued collection, the designs are quite standard compared to the designer's previous explorations of activewear sets. For SS23,Bella Hadidfronted theadidas x Balenciaga campaign, which blew remixed logo tees, tracksuits, and football jerseys to oversized proportions. Such magnified and surrealistic versions of otherwise familiar activewear silhouettes are omnipresent in Demna's Balenciaga collections. But now, even as one of the key ushers of fashion's oversized era, Demna has expressed that he's through with exploring outsized silhouettes. In a recent interview withDie Zeit,he shared his thoughts on the mass acceptance of oversized fits, stating, 'It's a specific silhouette—one of many possibilities. But right now, I'm very uninterested in oversized fashion. I've been there, I've done that.' Furthermore, Demna toldVoguethe intentions behind his rather pared-back FW25 collection following the March show: 'It's easy to put a chair on the head and say, oh, that's wearable art—or putting a parka upside down, (which) I kind of did for the last 12 years—and I love it, by the way—but also I felt like maybe I had enough of that.' Perhaps this is why the new PUMA collection and the 2024Under Armour partnershipsimilarly present a shift back to largely regular fits and conventional shapes from the designer. Often grouped with the 'post-Soviet' aesthetics of designers likeGosha Rubchinskiy, Demna's undying affinity for athletic styles is more firmly rooted in his identity and upbringing than people may realize. Many have tied certain Demna sensibilities, namely, bootlegged sportswear, counterfeit goods, worker uniforms, and underground subcultural style, to his roots in Soviet Georgia and subsequent years in Ukraine, Russia, and Germany. Demna carried many of these 'post-Soviet' throughlines at every step of his journey, including foundingVetementswith his brotherGuram Gvasaliain 2014. It was 2016 when Vetements famously madeChampioncool again with their inaugural collaboration, which adapted the Champion typeface into a Vetements wordmark. However, introducing these everyday themes into Balenciaga's glamorous Western European ethos completely revolutionized the brand's historic identity. Having publicly renounced oversized fashion and expressed his boredom with the avant-garde, Demna signals that his takeover of the Florentine house could herald a departure from the signatures he has so closely cultivated until this point. Indeed,Gucciis a different animal with a much stronger presence in the public imagination — one that may be much more difficult for Demna to challenge than Balenciaga. Will the designer continue to play with his archetypal Demna themes at Gucci, or is he trying to tell the world that he will showcase a new facet of his capabilities? The PUMA x Balenciaga collection is available nowonlineand at select Balenciaga stores.
