Paris

What is the true meaning of luxury? This question is racing through the mind of Demna, Balenciaga designer. He then tried to answer it in the Winter 2024 collection which once again disrupted the virtual world.

Ahead of the show which took place as part of Paris Fashion Week, Sunday (4/3/2024), Demna sent his official statement to fashion journalists in the form of an audio recording.

“As you know, I like to question things that are important to me through my work,” said the 49-year-old designer.

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“And some of the questions that have been popping up in my mind lately are: what is luxury? What is fashion and why is it so important?” Demna continued.

It’s not looking for answers that Demna thinks is most important, but rather the process of questioning them themselves.

However, above all that, creativity is the axis of everything Demna struggles with. That the quality of a work is measured by how far a designer dares to get out of their comfort zone in creative thinking.

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 03: A model walks the runway during the Balenciaga Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on March 3, 2024 in Paris, France.  (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Balenciaga Winter 2024-2025 Collection. (Photo: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

“True luxury is a kind of rarity, something that is not available indefinitely,” said the designer, who has worked for Balenciaga since 2015.

He later asserted that “creativity is quietly becoming a new form of luxury.”

Demna then executed this idea with his skill in marrying two opposing elements: glamorous and provocative.

A total of 68 sets of clothing were presented in a building specially constructed from electronic screens that displayed various kinds of visuals. Line up front row studded with celebrities, from Kim Kardashian, tennis star Serena Williams, to K-Pop singer Juyeon ‘The Boyz’.

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A dress inspired by Balenciaga’s classic silhouette in a leopard print with accentuation at the hips opened the show.

Followed by a similar dress, but this time in an all-black velvet version, decorated with dangling asymmetrical wings. Then dresses strapless high slit in the skirt that exposed stockings full of rips.

“I want this show to represent the connection between Balenciaga’s past and future as a fashion house that is based on creative values,” said Demna.

Founded by Cristobal Balenciaga, a Spanish designer who moved to Paris, in 1919, Balenciaga has gone through dark times of world political turmoil, including World War II.

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 03: A model walks the runway during the Balenciaga Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on March 3, 2024 in Paris, France.  (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Photo: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Balenciaga’s tenacity and creativity are what enabled him to survive. In the current context, when there is a ‘war’ for attention amidst the rapid flow of information on social media, Demna must also use as creative a strategy as possible.

After jumpsuits plaster Kim Kardashian, IKEA shopping bags worth tens of millions of rupiah, then the towel skirt that went viral recently, he expressed his new idea.

Overalls appear with tops that look like backpacks worn upside down. Completing the look, stockings high-knee boots and futuristic glasses that look like alien eyes.

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 03: A model walks the runway during the Balenciaga Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on March 3, 2024 in Paris, France.  (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) Photo: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Demna also included a dress made from a collection of panties and bras.

“This collection is about the aesthetic that I have developed in the world of fashion over the last ten years. It’s about identifying and being part of that aesthetic. This collection also talks about fashion that is very valuable to me,” he said.

Watch Video “Balenciaga Presents a Different Show at PFW Spring 2024
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