10 Oct, 2022
By Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga's Creative Director:
I hate boxes and I hate labels and I hate being labeled and placed
in a box. Society, the internet, and the world in general loves doing that,
because it feels safe this way.
One needs to have courage and persistence to truly assume their
identity and who they really are. Every day becomes a battlefield to defend
this unique identity. And the more you try to be yourself the more you get
punched in your face. But how great it is to be different from one another.
The challenge is to get up and keep walking towards your true self
after you have been beaten up and knocked down.
Fashion loves boxes and labels more than anything.
Luxury, not luxury, street, couture, good, bad, buzz, viral, all the
same, who cares. Putting luxury fashion into the box of polished, exclusive,
and visually expensive is limited and pretty old school. Individualism in
fashion is downgraded to pseudotrends dictated by a post in stories of some
celebrity
of the moment.
I’ve decided to no longer explain my collections and verbalize my
designs, but to express a state of mind. Fashion is a visual art and all we
need is for it to be seen through someone’s eyes. Fashion in its best case
scenario should not need a story to be sold to someone. You either like it or
not.
The set of this show is a metaphor for digging for truth and being
down to earth. Let us let everyone be anyone and make love not war.
Demna
