Front row gasps: Nicole Kidman and Kim Kardashian co-star on the Paris runway | Damien Woolnough
The show began with faceless models in the skin-clinging neoprene bodysuits that the Kardashians gravitate towards, before moving into Demna’s normcore staples of denim jackets, hoodies and parkas but reached its climax when the designer gave himself over to celebrity and glamour.
Supermodel Bella Hadid tried to hold her own against her famous competition but only Naomi Campbell, her immediately recognisable sculpted face emerging from a shiny black funnel bodice above a voluminous skirt, could muster enough star power to defend her profession. The event felt like a shift in the world of haute couture, where the finely-crafted clothes are only relevant to the extremely wealthy. Balenciaga is owned by the French luxury conglomerate Kering, which has decided all shows are an opportunity to provide fashion entertainment and lure customers to more affordable ready-to-wear and $109.99 fragrances from Chemist Warehouse.
“What Demna is doing with Balenciaga couture is making it really relevant now,” make-up artist Inge Gronard toldIt is the same stab at relevance that has been applied to the show’s venue, at the renovated original location of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s haute couture studio, 10 Avenue George V, Paris.“The concept of the couture store is a gateway to couture, which remains a very closed universe, especially for new generations,” says Cédric Charbit, chief executive, Balenciaga.
The couture house closed its doors in 1968 when in the face of Mary Quant mini-skirts and Biba fast fashion, its founder decided that times had changed too greatly. Balenciaga’s favourite client, the extremely wealthy Mona Von Bismarck, who once ordered 150 pieces when parts of her wardrobe were lost in a train accident, locked herself away in her Capri villa to cry for three days.
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