After all the speculation surrounding Alexander Wang’s departure from Balenciaga, parent company Kering has announced Georgian designer, Demna Gvasalia as the label’s new creative director. Perhaps aligning with the appointment of an industry’s relative unknown a la Gucci and Alessandro Michele, Kering’s choice of Gvasalia comes as surprising, though not altogether unfounded.
As the leader of Vetements, a design collective specialising in edgy, high street apparel with classic proportions redefined, Gvasalia’s design experience’s had led to Vetements being one of the top eight finalists for the 2015 LVMH prize, as well as generating hype for their Spring/Summer 2016 collection.
Gvasalia has also experience working at Maison Margiela under the label’s eponymous founder for eight years, and a short tenure at Louis Vuitton. Will Gvasalia redefine the Balenciaga signature as sibling company Gucci did? Or will Gvasalia’s interpretation of Balenciaga be an extension of Wang’s legacy? We wait for his first show in March 2016 with bated breath as answers to these questions.
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