5 things to know about Balenciaga SS22 show

Balenciaga's SS22 show yesterday was definitely a success, but it also got a lot of discussions. Although it represented a repetition of the silhouettes and looks to which Demna Gvasalia has accustomed us over time – the concept that supported the show was quite interesting: the theme was cloning, and the way in which the digital filters of technology manipulate the perception of reality, which becomes dystopian and alienating. And so, all the looks in the collection were worn by cloned deepfake versions of Eliza Douglas, an artist long linked to Balenciaga, while an artificial intelligence repeated the text of Edith Piaf's La Vie en Rose on the notes of a soundtrack composed by BFRND – giving the idea of a romanticism emptied of humanity, alienating and almost algorithmic. Meanwhile, various details have emerged on the catwalk that has been worthy of attention. 

Below nss magazine has listed 5 things to know about Balenciaga's SS22 show. 

#1 A taste of the Couture collection

The most important event for the Balenciaga Maison is its return to couture after more than half a century – a plan that also included the complete restoration from the founder's original atelier. Being Balenciaga a brand that was born as the non-plus ultra of haute couture, and also considering the quotes and references made by Gvasalia to the production of Cristobal de Balenciaga over the years, this SS22 show may have hidden a taste of the upcoming couture collection: the most cult look is certainly the latest, a declared homage to the drag queen Divine in the iconic movie Pink Flamingos by John Waters; evening dresses become pant-suits decorated with corsets, while the cocoon construction of many of the garments and the extreme folding of the third look returns.

#2 The Gucci hacking keeps going

The question of what remains of originality in the digital world remains with the continuation of the hacking between Balenciaga and Gucci. A new version of the Gucci monogram, with the double  Bs instead of the G, returns especially in terms of accessories even going so far as to mention Gucci's "Not Fake" collection – which is also an arrow to counterfeits and fakes to which both brands are subject.

#3 The cyber-goth aesthetic (with a dash of touristcore)

Among the most obvious and declared quirks in the collection, there was a series of trousers and skirts defined in the notes at the show as «cyber goth-style raver pant». The construction of the pants is reminiscent of a hardcore version of the phat pants of the 90s, with a series of denim overlays and metal rings. The cyber-goth aesthetic is a great classic by Demna Gvasalia and is found here mentioned in the styling of sunglasses, in the anarchic mix of hoodies and raver skirt. Another visible touch, although lighter, is that of touristcore, that is, the kitschy aesthetic of tourists, with a Hawaiian shirt so oversized that it becomes a dress and perforated plastic bags similar to those with which you bring children's toys to the sea.

#4 The meta-references

Many of the self-references concern the silhouettes signed by Demna that return to these collections, but many others refer to ironic graphics that bear the inscription Your Ad Here or play on the pronunciation of the acronym 'BB' by Balenciaga that reads, in French, Bebè. Another dress has an all-over print on the fabric that reproduces the appearance of the brand's e-commerce page. Finally, inspired by the world of fake graphic hoodies, the Simpsons characters appear printed on a hoodie while wearing the brand's FW20 garments.

#5 Vetements isn't over Demna

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Balenciaga SS22 vs. Vetements SS22

Since Demna left Vetements, her language has evolved in a personal but also very authentic sense. And although this latest collection signed by him and the Vetements SS22 produced by the brand's new creative team are in fact very different, it would be impossible not to recognize a common blueprint both in terms of themes and on the more general one of silhouettes, of the positioning of labels but also in the case of some colours and items. One of Demna Gvasalia's "signatures" seems to have been hacked more explicitly by her ex-brand, Vetements: that is, the scribbles on the clothes that, from Vetements appeared on trench coats and suits while at Balenciaga they were on a Hawaiian shirt. Other common details were the appearance of the classic floral dress, which Demna made a bit of a tradition of Balenciaga fashion shows, and the similarity of two patterns of coloured graphics on a white background that, in the brand directed by Gvasalia, became naïve-child designs, while from Vetements they remained graffiti.