SALON D’OR

For the first time in the 53 years since Cristóbal Balenciaga closed his legendary couture house, the House of Balenciaga once again presented a masterful couture collection under the helm of Demna Gvasalia, debuted in the restored historic haute couture salons at 10 Avenue George V in Paris. In what was one of the most thrilling, goosebump inducing, and modernly beautiful fashion presentations of the last decade, far beyond a mere homage to the late master of fashion, there’s no doubt that the deafening silence of the rooms and the restoration of its original decor, added to the show’s brilliance. Gvasalia, the clever designer that he is, added a dramatic twist to the restoration. He had the 1937 salons on George V recreated to perfection, but as though they were left untouched and abandoned since Monsieur Balenciaga’s retirement in 1968. Water-stained silk curtains, flaking plasterwork, light switches bleeding grease, moldy dropped ceilings and dirty stucco helped paint a bigger picture. “His spirit is somewhere in these walls,” said Gvasalia. “It’s the decay that I always find very beautiful, much more beautiful than something new and freshly made.” Perhaps it was a nod to the house’s legendary past, while simultaneously looking forward towards the future… As Gvasalia so elegantly stated, “We cannot only look into the future. We have to look into the past to see where we’re going.”

“… Original features include the elevator and stairs used by his illustrious clients, which included the likes of Bunny Mellon, Babe Paley, Millicent Rogers, Pauline de Rothschild, Marella Agnelli, Gloria Guinness and Mona von Bismarck… “A lot of our clients know the history of Balenciaga well, but we would like to make sure with this return to couture that the new generations understand the original creativity of the brand and the background of the house.” said Charbit. (Ultimately, though) “It’s not about looking backward, it’s about projecting fashion into the future, which is what couture has always done,” said François-Henri Pinault, “Haute couture contributes to the timeless appeal of a fashion house, and particularly one like Balenciaga.”• WWD