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By Alexander Patino
POSTED March 4, 2011
Nicolas Ghesquiere's Sartorial Wizardry
Is More Elegantly Refined Than His Fans
May Be Used To For the Fall 11 Season
Is More Elegantly Refined Than His Fans
May Be Used To For the Fall 11 Season
Nicolas Ghesquiere appears to gain as many fans with each new collection for Balenciaga as he seems to lose them. At first, Ghesquiere was admonished for not bringing enough of the
original Cristobal Balenciaga DNA to his highly futuristic and scientific creations, but as of late, the designer has made great use of his access to that treasured archive. Now it appears
that the recently rejoined, as well as new batch of Balenciaga devotees, want to know - what's the new Lego shoe? -What's Fall 2011's answer to those golden android pants from a few
years back? Where oh where are tomorrow's neoprene flower dresses?
Well, maybe not the hard and shapely flower dresses from the Jennifer Connelly campaign days, but a longer, flowier floral skirt than we're used to from Ghesquiere, opened the show. It
lacked that robust, futuristic street nerve that has made the French designer such a rock star in the fashion world, but there was no denying that even the way it sashayed, in both the floral
print and in black patent leather, was inherently Ghesquiere. The skirts were much longer than the shiny front-draped skirts that opened his Fall 2009 show, but they still managed to move
in the same way. He obviously hasn't forsaken his own touches in the name of house loyalty. And these elegant looks weren't without their fare share techy experimentations. The skirts
were paired with chunky macro-knit faux leather jackets as well as draped tops with 3D copper mesh draping and exquisitely understated up-to-the-neck sweaters. The crepe de chine color
blocked tunics had a deep, low drape in the back that came as a welcome surprise. Many of the pieces here seemed to connect of on the hidden treasures that abounded once the models
made their turns. This season, a good handful of designers travelled back to 1965 with their own takes on YSL's iconic Mondrian dress. Ghesquiere made the trip to 1965 as well, but in his
case, it was through the Balenciaga archive, where he dug up the closing coat, which was cut from a singular rectangular piece of fabric. It was a great cyclical progression - it begins with
Ghesquiere's flowers, so it ends with the very "fabric" of the house itself.
There's definitely a recipe to a Balenciaga show. It's become impossible to imagine a Balenciaga collection coming down anything other than Paris' Hotel Crillon, to music mixed by anyone
other than Michel Gaubert - and from our count Johanna Kneppers, Lisanne de Jong and Kori Richardson haven't missed a Balenciaga catwalk in years. With each new season, the
special Balenciaga flairs of showmanship become more cemented, but pinpointing just what Ghesquiere will come up with next is like nailing down water - and that's just how we like it.
No, scratch that. How we love it.
original Cristobal Balenciaga DNA to his highly futuristic and scientific creations, but as of late, the designer has made great use of his access to that treasured archive. Now it appears
that the recently rejoined, as well as new batch of Balenciaga devotees, want to know - what's the new Lego shoe? -What's Fall 2011's answer to those golden android pants from a few
years back? Where oh where are tomorrow's neoprene flower dresses?
Well, maybe not the hard and shapely flower dresses from the Jennifer Connelly campaign days, but a longer, flowier floral skirt than we're used to from Ghesquiere, opened the show. It
lacked that robust, futuristic street nerve that has made the French designer such a rock star in the fashion world, but there was no denying that even the way it sashayed, in both the floral
print and in black patent leather, was inherently Ghesquiere. The skirts were much longer than the shiny front-draped skirts that opened his Fall 2009 show, but they still managed to move
in the same way. He obviously hasn't forsaken his own touches in the name of house loyalty. And these elegant looks weren't without their fare share techy experimentations. The skirts
were paired with chunky macro-knit faux leather jackets as well as draped tops with 3D copper mesh draping and exquisitely understated up-to-the-neck sweaters. The crepe de chine color
blocked tunics had a deep, low drape in the back that came as a welcome surprise. Many of the pieces here seemed to connect of on the hidden treasures that abounded once the models
made their turns. This season, a good handful of designers travelled back to 1965 with their own takes on YSL's iconic Mondrian dress. Ghesquiere made the trip to 1965 as well, but in his
case, it was through the Balenciaga archive, where he dug up the closing coat, which was cut from a singular rectangular piece of fabric. It was a great cyclical progression - it begins with
Ghesquiere's flowers, so it ends with the very "fabric" of the house itself.
There's definitely a recipe to a Balenciaga show. It's become impossible to imagine a Balenciaga collection coming down anything other than Paris' Hotel Crillon, to music mixed by anyone
other than Michel Gaubert - and from our count Johanna Kneppers, Lisanne de Jong and Kori Richardson haven't missed a Balenciaga catwalk in years. With each new season, the
special Balenciaga flairs of showmanship become more cemented, but pinpointing just what Ghesquiere will come up with next is like nailing down water - and that's just how we like it.
No, scratch that. How we love it.
