Balenciaga's big idea: this season's fashion will benefit UN charity

Fashion’s most influential designer is sick of putting meaningless graphics on T-shirts. “I am tired of making prints for the sake of prints,” said Demna Gvasalia, backstage at his Balenciaga show in Paris on Sunday. “At this stage, if I do a T-shirt or a jersey it needs to have something more to it.”

Given that a T-shirt printed with the DHL logo was the item that originally brought Gvasalia and his design collective, Vetements, to the world’s attention, this proclamation will pique the fashion industry’s interest.

Two years ago, when he started at Balenciaga, Gvasalia’s ironic, street-smart aesthetic seemed an odd fit for a house best known for its association with Audrey Hepburn. But his impressive hits – the oversized anoraks copied on every high street; the sell-out “ugly chic” Triple S trainers – have proved the pairing’s wisdom.

This season’s big idea had a serious message: Balenciaga collaborated with the World Food Programme on a series of logo baseball caps, bumbags and T-shirts, using the same “free corporate awayday merch” aesthetic that has become a house signature.

Source: theguardian