Latest news with #Gvasalia
Observer
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
'Brilliant artist': Provocateur Demna takes on slumping Gucci
Celebrated, controversial and clearly up for a challenge, fashion designer Demna is set to step into one of the most difficult jobs in the luxury clothing industry next week as chief creative at struggling Gucci. The 44-year-old, who fled the war-wracked Georgian region of Abkhazia as a child and dropped his surname "Gvasalia" in 2021, will bow out with a last show for Balenciaga on Wednesday before switching to Gucci -- both firms owned by France's luxury giant Kering. "Demna's contribution to the industry, to Balenciaga, and to the group's success has been tremendous," Kering chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said at the time. "His creative power is exactly what Gucci needs." Investors were not so convinced and shares in Kering, which counts on Gucci as its main profit generator, fell around 12 percent on the day of the announcement before slumping even further. Other more established and mainstream designers from Hedi Slimane, Maria Grazia Chiuri or Pierpaolo Piccioli had been linked to the vacancy. Some analysts have questioned whether Demna's recipe for success at Balenciaga -- which leant heavily on provocative, streetwear-influenced design and showmanship -- can be replicated at the more classic Italian house. "He is iconoclast and ironic, which is good to attract attention toward a small brand like Balenciaga," Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at the Bernstein brokerage, wrote afterwards. "However, we are not sure the strategy would work as well for a bigger brand." 'Brilliant artist': Provocateur Demna takes on slumping Gucci - 'Absolutely uncompromising' - Demna's final show for Balenciaga will take place on Wednesday during Haute Couture fashion week in Paris and he will join the Italian label the very next day. During a decade at the Spanish-born but Paris-based brand, he drove sales and attention sharply higher with a mix of headline-grabbing creations as well as personal publicity -- not always positive. He achieved notoriety with his $2,000 "Ikea" bag, a luxury leather version of the 99-cent original. He followed it up with an $1,800 garbage bag -- the so-called "trash pouch" -- in a show in March 2022 that was dedicated to Ukrainian refugees. Other daring designs included a head-to-toe black shroud that US reality television star Kim Kardashian -- a personal friend -- wore to the Met Gala in 2021. A-list celebrity endorsements have been plentiful, but have not always worked out. Kanye West -- Kardashian's ex and another friend -- opened Balenciaga's show in October 2022 shortly before the first of several anti-Semitic outbursts, and the group had to cut ties with the rapper. Demna's lowest point came in February 2023 when he was forced to apologise for an ad campaign that appeared to reference child abuse and had underage models in what looked like bondage gear. He has plenty of fans among Gen Z tastemakers, however. "I've always gravitated toward Balenciaga, because I love Demna's vision," British pop sensation Charli XCX told British Vogue last year. "He feels like he's speaking his own language, which is absolutely uncompromising, and to me, that's what makes a brilliant artist." - 'Aggression and darkness' - Annual sales at Balenciaga were estimated to be $350 million when he arrived and had surged to about $2 billion in 2022, according to GQ magazine. Gucci's fortunes have headed in the other direction: they slid 23 percent last year, prompting Kering to fire creative director Sabato de Sarno after only two years in the job. Demna is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in Belgium and went on to work at Maison Margiela and Vuitton. He co-founded the label Vetements with his brother in 2014, a year before he was named to the top job at Balenciaga. For many years, his childhood trauma fleeing pro-Russian separatists in his homeland affected his work, but he told Vanity Fair in 2021 that counselling, meditation and exercise had helped exorcise some demons. "Fashion used to feel like a battle for me. That is why there was a lot of aggression and darkness in what I did. Today I feel at peace with the system," he said. —AFP
eNCA
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- eNCA
Provocateur Demna takes on slumping Gucci
PARIS - Celebrated, controversial and clearly up for a challenge, fashion designer Demna is set to step into one of the most difficult jobs in the luxury clothing industry next week as chief creative at struggling Gucci. The 44-year-old, who fled the war-wracked Georgian region of Abkhazia as a child and dropped his surname "Gvasalia" in 2021, will bow out with a last show for Balenciaga on Wednesday before switching to Gucci -- both firms owned by France's luxury giant Kering. "Demna's contribution to the industry, to Balenciaga, and to the group's success has been tremendous," Kering chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said at the time. "His creative power is exactly what Gucci needs." Investors were not so convinced and shares in Kering, which counts on Gucci as its main profit generator, fell around 12 percent on the day of the announcement before slumping even further. Other more established and mainstream designers from Hedi Slimane, Maria Grazia Chiuri or Pierpaolo Piccioli had been linked to the vacancy. Some analysts have questioned whether Demna's recipe for success at Balenciaga -- which leant heavily on provocative, streetwear-influenced design and showmanship -- can be replicated at the more classic Italian house. "He is iconoclast and ironic, which is good to attract attention toward a small brand like Balenciaga," Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at the Bernstein brokerage, wrote afterwards. "However, we are not sure the strategy would work as well for a bigger brand." Demna's final show for Balenciaga will take place on Wednesday during Haute Couture fashion week in Paris and he will join the Italian label the very next day. During a decade at the Spanish-born but Paris-based brand, he drove sales and attention sharply higher with a mix of headline-grabbing creations as well as personal publicity -- not always positive. He achieved notoriety with his $2,000 "Ikea" bag, a luxury leather version of the 99-cent original. He followed it up with an $1,800 garbage bag -- the so-called "trash pouch" -- in a show in March 2022 that was dedicated to Ukrainian refugees. Demna's lowest point came in February 2023 when he was forced to apologise for an ad campaign that appeared to reference child abuse and had underage models in what looked like bondage gear. He has plenty of fans among Gen Z tastemakers, however. Annual sales at Balenciaga were estimated to be $350-million when he arrived and had surged to about $2-billion in 2022, according to GQ magazine. Gucci's fortunes have headed in the other direction: they slid 23 percent last year, prompting Kering to fire creative director Sabato de Sarno after only two years in the job.
Fashion United
26-06-2025
- 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
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
6 Things to Expect from Pierpaolo Piccioli's Balenciaga
It's official. Following months of industry chatter, the celebrated former creative director of Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli, has been confirmed as Demna Gvasalia's successor at Kering's deliciously schlumpy third biggest brand, Balenciaga. Chances are the storied couture house won't remain all that schlumpy for long. Under Gvasalia, Balenciaga became better known for its enormous trainers and roomy hoodies, beloved by the likes of Justin Bieber and Travis Scott. Pierpaolo's vision is altogether lighter, foamier – more Italian – and certainly more traditionally Fashion with a capital 'F'. For female consumers, that almost certainly means more traditional takes on the structural couture gowns that made Cristobal Balenciaga's name. For men, the results are likely to be more nuanced. Here are six things Esquire expects from the Roman designer with a tan as golden as the sun. Head-to-toe block colour was one of Piccioli's calling cards at Valentino, and it's unlikely he'll shift too far away from all-over shades. Expect bright suits (most likely razor-cut, in contrast to Gvasalia's signature wide silhouette) and smart little sets in hues of negroni and nocciola. Gvasalia liked for his models to look as though they'd just escaped a gulag. Piccioli prefers a traditionally healthier look. Gvasalia's silhouette was nothing if not capacious, so expect a return to Hedi Slimane levels of skinny from Piccioli. Piccoli is rarely seen out of his all-black uniform, nearly always punctuated with a bright red coral necklace reminiscent of the type you can pick up for a few euro in Taormina. Expect to pay a little more for Balenciaga's version. See above. Piccioli is also rarely seen without a pair of black Wayfarers set across his espresso-hued eyes. Could a Ray-Ban X Balenciaga collaboration be on the cards? We reckon so. We'd like to say we'll be sad to see the back of trainers the size of a small mountains. We'd really like to say it. You Might Also Like The Best Men's Sunglasses For Summer '19 There's A Smartwatch For Every Sort Of Guy What You Should Buy For Your Groomsmen (And What They Really Want)
