The collection also marks fashion designer Demna Gvasalia's debut in the couture scene
After its recent social media clean-up, Balenciaga is back online and is serving its 2021 fall haute couture collection, its return to high fashion runway after 53 years.
Shown in the original salon of its founder Cristóbal Balenciaga, the collection was presented in total silence on July 7, 2021. The collection also marks the couture debut of the house's creative director Demna Gvasalia, who is known for his contemporary designs as seen on his previous works for fashion labels like Vetements and Louis Vuitton.
“It was my minute of silence to the heritage of Cristóbal Balenciaga but also a moment of silence to just shut up for a minute,” the Gregorian fashion designer tells Vogue. “The pandemic made me take that minute of silence—or few months of silence—and really understand what I like in this ‘metier,’ as Cristóbal used to call it. And I realized it’s not about fashion—actually, I love clothes. I’ve been talking about clothes, clothes, clothes rather than fashion.”
Described by style website Fashionista as "a love letter to the house's founding father," Balenciaga's comeback couture collection features design elements that made it among the iconic fashion houses. The collection started off with a series of black pieces for men and women, which explored architectural shapes and playful proportions. Pops of colors then entered the runway with oversized jackets, ball gowns, and parka hybrids—a Gvasalia hallmark—among others, in different textures and varying colors of blue, red, yellow, and green. Adding a dose of sophistication and romanticism are the couture dresses with floral embellishments. Finishing the show is an elegant finale piece, a wedding gown.
View the collection here: