An anthology of the Cosmetic Pantashoes by Balenciaga

We all agree that the winner for the best season trend is undoubtedly Balenciaga's "panta-shoes". In case someone has lived without Internet until now, we are talking about the spandex boot-pants that Demna Gvasalia has created for the Balenciaga SS17 collection. It's the hottest piece of the collection, maybe of the season, and it's the accessory that best embodies the fashion designer's creative idea, namely to combine fashion and fetishism, to give rise to a subversive tailoring.

So, the "two-in-one" spandex boots have confirmed once again the Demna Gvasalia's talent to capture the spotlights of the fashion world by provoking the audience with some conceptual collection or launching trends designed to last a long time. This time it's a spandex double-piece who has assured Balenciaga the first place on the podium of the most powerful brands of the moment. And the fact that the stretch fabric of the pantashoes and the fashion Maison were supposed to meet to create something great was already written in their fate, considering that the spandex was invented in 1958, the year when Cristobal Balenciaga created his famous silk Gazar fabric, became the signature of the brand. However, the success of the meeting between Balenciaga and the legging-boots is just the final part of a long process who lasts a long time. If you think that the idea of this violent boots was exclusive of the Georgian designer, I'm sorry, but I have to disappoint you.

(...) the crowning of the meeting between Balenciaga and boots-leggings is just the latest part of a process that has gone on for many years.

The first link between the thigh-high boots – shoe adopted by women just in Sixties thanks to the enfant prodigies Yves Saint Laurent and Roger Vivier – and the pants/shoes was Beth Levine who, in the Sixties, has experimented the union of nylon collant and leather or plastic shoes to create a one-piece garment. In 1967 David Evins designed for Oscar de la Renta some very high leather boots who looked like pants in the shots that Vogue dedicated to them.

More recently, a pop and ironic version of the  appeared in 2010 when Willow Smith took part of the Kid's Choice Awards wearing a pair of pink Converse All Star turned into pants. Except this questionable case, in 2013 Tamara Mellon, former Jimmy Choo's Creative Director, designed a pair of soft leather legging-boots. 

"Actually I'm really happy that they did that because everyone thought I was crazy. It validates the idea. And I think more people will be willing to try it now that they've seen it", Mellon said about the Balenciaga's panta-shoes. Finally, maybe the most popular cases: the very high latex boots by Raf Simons for Dior and those ones in denim from the collaboration between Rihanna and Manolo Blahnik. 

Now that we have made clear the background who opened the way to the success of this garment, there is only one question: why people love this boots so much?

This time it's not all about big names of fashion and entertainment who "have pumped" the hype, but the atmosphere that Demna Gvasalia created around these boots.  So, every single piece he designes has the power to conquer the audience, thanks to that vibe of couture and trash they spread. The force of his garments seems to be that touch of "unnaturalness" who denotes them, that unexpected, grotesque, kind of disturbing detail who charms us all. Demna Gvasalia's clothing is like a surreal art-work who confuses you, but you can't stop to looking at fascinated. The second Demna Gvasalia's collection for Balenciaga is all of this and the boots in particular are the perfect summary of the creative spirit of the designer.  It's the Demna Gvasalia's talent.

The force of his garments seems to be that touch of "unnaturalness" who denotes them, that unexpected, grotesque, kind of disturbing detail who charms us all.

Not only this, the "two-in-one" piece is loved because it mixes cleverly references of all types: the saturated colors of the spandex recall the sporty style of the Eighties, like Jane Fonda during her aerobics class, while the clear line of the silhouette reminds the Pierre Cardin's rigour in Sixties, and the stiletto heel and the design give a touch of fetish, who, for its part, draws from Seventies B series bondage magazines to gothic look of the underground music scene in the Eighties. Inspirations who are mixed together to create an as absurd as charming garment who plays with a ferociuos femininity, not vulgar, but self-deprecating. 
So, Demna Gvasalia strikes again.
His subversive tailoring is loved because is not afraid to experiment, to revolutionize and turn uglyness into something truly beautiful.