There was no drama, but a wave of excitement swept through the central square of the Cité Internationale Universitaire on a sunny Wednesday morning. Smiles and tears appeared on the faces of some 50 artisans from the Balenciaga workshops, who walked down the stairs of the university alongside the house’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, all dressed in white coats. They received a standing ovation. A collective finale that closed a creative showcase of the Italian designer, marking one of the highlights of Paris Haute Couture Week.
After the poetic triumphs of Dior, Chanel and Schiaparelli, the fashion world eagerly awaited the haute couture union between Balenciaga and its creative director, who joined the house last summer. From this alliance emerged the house’s 55th haute couture collection: a showcase of 52 styles that combines the original rigor of Cristóbal Balenciaga with the masterful interpretations of the Italian designer. Taking advantage of his experience, Pierpaolo Piccioli did not remain stuck in a reverential approach to the legacy of the Basque couturier. Once all the international stars arrived and the umbrellas could finally be closed, the cast, including, as is the designer’s custom, walked out onto the catwalk surrounding a circular French garden.
And to set the tone, the first look did not feature a single trace of black, so emblematic of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s work. It consisted of a white silk T-shirt paired with loose light beige wool pants. An orange balloon cape, embroidered with satin feathers and voluminous on the back, imposed its elegance from the first moment. This was followed by a double-faced white cashmere coat over a lilac silk georgette sleeveless top and orange-toned wool trousers embroidered with organza petals.
“This coat was inspired by the silhouette of a 1961 evening dress designed by Cristóbal Balenciaga… But that was just the starting point,” the designer explained to FashionNetwork.com at the end of the show. “Then it became a white cashmere coat lined with lace on the inside. It’s a traditional couture piece, but made in the most innovative way. It took six months to make. We scanned the body and then created a mold. It looks very simple, but if you look closely, the cashmere is molded around the body. As Brancusi said, ‘Simplicity is complexity resolved’; it’s an arrival point, not a starting point.”
But Wednesday was not all simplicity. In fact, quite the opposite. Balenciaga drew on its expertise in embroidery, plumage and goldsmithing, adding a technological layer with the use of 3D scans – particularly in its leather pieces – and a bioengineered silk called AMSilk, before leaning on the workshop’s cutting and construction skills to realize the sculptural proposals.
The balloon capes of black silk gazar seemed to float on the shoulders, while the trousers, embroidered with black, pink, plum or lilac ostrich feathers, imparted a feline gait, and the long trains of dresses or capes of leather, gazar or silk muslin – sometimes with floral prints – exuded sensuality. The Italian designer and his teams also gave free rein to their explorations of volume.
“Cristobal never allowed himself to limit himself to a single silhouette; I couldn’t, after 50 years, go back and be inspired by something from the past. So I think we had to invent a new silhouette through cut and shape, and without any fabric or internal structure. Cristóbal was obsessed with the idea of movement, and he freed women from a great burden. For me, it was important to create new shapes for modern life but using the same method of cutting engineering, working with volumes without adding anything. structures: nothing inside, nothing restrictive. Modern, but haute couture. That’s why we have developed numerous techniques, for example, the red dress, which looks like a very classic evening dress, is actually built from a base of fused and fluid tailoring, no inner corset, only seams, first you have to know them all and in the end you have to hide the technique to achieve the magic and offer true beauty, which is emotional and personal.
This magic emerged repeatedly over several months of work: on a strapless dress of multicolored printed silk organza and gazar embroidered with silk satin feathers; in a dark purple wool and silk crepe flared high-neck jumpsuit paired with burgundy lambskin gloves; and with an anise green bouclé tweed coat whose front rises like a high plastron but reveals a bare back outlined with organza petals. The silhouettes are further enriched, giving rise to new textures in a silk gazar skirt covered with gathered bias strips of pearl gray organza; an ensemble embroidered with rose quartz ostrich feathers, consisting of a headdress that covers the head and bust and a super silk taffeta skirt; a trio consisting of a balloon dress, a black silk bolero and black leather opera gloves; and the impressive ivory silk and wool monastic dress, which appears to be cut in one piece with an immense train.
But the look that really caught the crowd’s attention was the outfit worn by Gigi Hadid, with her face covered in a cloud of iridescent black rooster feathers: a princess from a dark fairy tale and a modern woman at the same time with her wide cypress green wool pants and petrol blue heels.
“The look that Gigi wore exudes that sense of protection that is found in the traditional Basque costume that Cristóbal always worked with, and is worn with pants. But this piece was like a feather shawl. Very light. And it completely changed the feeling and perception of the woman who wears it. She doesn’t feel constrained. On the contrary, it allows her to show her extravagance, that idea of self-expression. Because that’s what haute couture is for me: it’s culture that allows you to express yourself. That’s what that defines and shapes the spirit of the house.”
A spirit that resonated with a captivated audience, particularly with Luca de Meo, chief executive of Kering, which owns the fashion house, in the front row, flanked by footballer Hugo Ekitike and actress Lily Collins. A positive sign for Balenciaga which, according to its general director, Gianfranco Gianangeli, will continue to show during Haute Couture Week.
“The goal was to put the atelier’s technical expertise back at the heart of the project, and that is what we are proud of. It was also a challenge to bring this innovation, with AMSilk silk and couture, directly to the heart of the atelier,” the executive told FashionNetwork.com. “Every project is a human adventure; you can’t create all this on your own. Not me, not Paolo, nobody. This is even more true in haute couture. We have this workshop, which embodies all the work for us, together with the creative team that develops a collection. But in reality, it is much broader than that. As a company, it affects everyone in the entire organization.” Backstage, the atelier teams hugged and congratulated each other, as if Balenciaga had won a World Cup match.
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