We’re still coming to terms with the news that Jean Paul Gaultier is leaving the haute couture runway and now comes word that another big-name brand is hopping back into the high fashion spotlight. In a frankly shocking move, Demna Gvasalia has decided to bring haute couture back to Balenciaga.
It’s been 52 years since founder Cristóbal Balenciaga closed his atelier so there’s a lot riding on this return to haute couture. While there will be plenty of doubters since Gvasalia has become more synonymous with streetwear than couture, the designer has actually been planning this move for quite a while.
“For me, couture is an unexplored mode of creative freedom and a platform for innovation. It not only offers another spectrum of possibilities in dressmaking, it also brings the modern vision of Balenciaga back to its sources of origin,” Gvasalia shared with Vogue.
But don’t expect to see Balenciaga on this week’s haute couture schedule. We’ll have to wait until July and the Fall 2020 season to see if Gvasalia can successfully pull off a couture comeback.
