Demna Gvasalia‘s debut as Balenciaga‘s creative director has made the French house’s Autumn Winter 2016 show the mot anticipated of the season. Already as the only named member of Vetements – the two-year-old Parisian label-of-the-moment with its anti-establishment approach to fashion – Gvasalia has earned a reputation for breathing new life into ’90s street wear. Those “ghetto”/normcore leanings were apparent in the 44-piece collection that was presented to an exclusive crowd in Paris on Sunday, but instead of diluting the spirit of Cristobal Balenciaga, he only made it more palpable and fresher than it has been in seasons.
His starting point, he reveals in the show notes, was not so much couture, but the idea of how wearing couture can influence everything from one’s deportment to state of mind. With that, he essentially reimagined what street wear would look like in the hands of Balenciaga and created possibly the best collection of the season.
Here’s a quick guide to the pieces that I’m completely obsessed about, and that would also most likely make most-wanted lists. By Noelle Loh.