Footwear is Balenciaga's real treasure trove

In the huge show put on by Demna Gvasalia and Balenciaga for SS22, footwear seems to have taken a back seat between a red-carpet catwalk and a Simpsons special with Homer on fire in a not-so-subtle reference to Kanye West. Footwear, however, always deserves a place of respect, especially after the fact that in recent years it has represented one of Balenciaga's strong points, opening the doors of streetwear to the brand and bringing it closer to a group of buyers that was previously far removed from the work of Gvasalia and his predecessors. With one eye on the past and the other on the future, the novelties presented in Paris seem to want to play with some of the most famous models of recent years, re-imagining them in new and unconventional ways: the Speed Runner becomes a sandal with a stiletto heel in which the concept of "sock shoes" takes on an even more pronounced meaning, while the Balenciaga Track returns in a version "on steroids" in which the design plays even more with shapes and layers, giving life to the Defender.

So footwear seems to have become the real laboratory in which to experiment, whether in terms of shapes and materials or simply cultural references. As in the case of the Crocs collaboration, which sets aside heels and pins and marries the cyber-goth aesthetic of New Rock with Hard Crocs, transforming the concept of the clog into a fortified shoe similar to a platform shoe; while the classic derby shoes are upset with the Space Shoe in which a single EVA shape recreates those of the poulaines, the "Polacche" that became famous in the Middle Ages whose shape has been used and cited countless times in fashion, from Prada Synthesis to Rai Kawakubo in the SS15 collection of Comme des Garcons Homme Plus. If the concept of "experimenting" is still not clear enough, Demna's latest trump card is a bag transformed into a boot thanks to the Cagole Boot, a footwear version of the Balenciaga studded bag that retains all its most iconic features but gives it a new lease of life.

In light of what we saw, it is impossible not to feel a sense of confusion at the work of Gvasalia, who was able to raze the certainties built up by Balenciaga over the years (where are the Triple S's?) to put everything back into play in a new form and a new light. A change of course that doesn't differ too much from what we saw in Paris, where the Georgian designer wanted to unsettle everyone by playing with the very concept of fashion and its most classic references in a game reproposed also in footwear where a bag becomes a boot and a classic shoe becomes a futuristic object. After the fascinating experiments of Loewe and the less convincing ones of Lanvin and Batman, with Balenciaga footwear seems to have conquered by right the role of silent protagonist of Paris Fashion Week, subtly and silently telling us about the desire for change and irreverence of the post-pandemic fashion industry.