Supermarket Style

The debut of Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga, in addition to the openly ‘80s silhouettes, will be remembered for having introduced on the market a range of bags that are very reminiscent of those used by Italian women (and grandmothers) to go grocery shopping.

We are talking about reusable, plastic coated, durable bags, often decorated with white, red, blue or green stripes. To all those who own (or have used) at least one in their life, the similarity between this everyday object and the purses on Balenciaga’s FW16 catwalk, available in multiple colours and sizes, will be evident.

Balenciaga FW16

The confirmation of this ‘daily’ inspiration came last July, when the House released the campaign for the collection, shot in Paris by Mark Borthwick and styled by Lotta Volkova. The photographs aimed exactly at portraying contemporary girls in everyday contexts, performing equally common actions such as drinking coffee from a paper cup, looking at themselves in one Ikea mirror abandoned on the street and, of course, carrying heavy shopping bags.

The international street style reports have immediately consecrated the trend and Gvasalia himself decided to perpetuate it, presenting, for Balenciaga’s SS17 collection, some interesting variations on the theme.