Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, and a World of Clones

In Balenciaga's recent Paris Fashion Week showing, Demna Gvasalia shows us the future of technology and how it might shape culture. Please comment what you learned from this video so we can get good discussion going.

#parisfashionweek #balenciaga #demnagvasalia

**Correction**: there does seem to have been a literal audience for this show.

[BFRND]

The audience actually attended the show. They in fact have been precociously styled by Balenciaga making them wear archive looks from the very first season to the collection right before this one. They were asked to act the way they do, including filming the show with phones that were given to them by the house so they couldn’t leak any footage.

[Karma-qjns]

What you said about Balenciaga existing digitally is so true to many people. I have zero access to high-end stores and to get something from Balenciaga for example I'd have to travel since shipping will probably take a year and lots of money, and I don't even have a postal thingy. The nearest Balenciaga is 5 countries away in another continent lol

[anged]

First of all, I'm loving how the pandemic has shifted fashion shows. They're becoming pieces of art in themselves, not just showcases for the actual clothes. LV's fall winter 2022, GCDS's digital show and now this. Just the fact that this show didnt actually happen is crazy.

This show made me uncomfortable. The audience, the music, the blemness of it all. It scares me seeing how homogenic everything is getting. That the inspiration for uniqueness is often found online, which then isnt actually unique. The death of subcultures. It all feels very distant and cold and reflects well the way i'm feeling about the world right now.

Thank you for this disection of the show. I always geek out about these stuff.

[DavidGora]

I know this is an old video. But this really taught me to look at fashion differently. Fashion really is commentary from the designer/artist. And whether or not they are being intentional, their work is saying something. Fast fashion is speaking volumes in opposition to things like climate change and conservation. I’m starting my career in art at 30, and this video has really helped me. Thanks Bliss!

[joannebarber]

" Everything is alright" is the best symbol for this life. Walking toward your own end. Powerful. Thanks.

[MLA]

The theme of homogenisation among fashion circles reminded me of this quote:

“In any period of fashion history, there are always a few brands that best signify the times, brands that those in the know feel they should be wearing. In the nineties, it was Helmut Lang and Margiela, and now it’s this. You wear your Vetements or Balenciaga with Acne shoes and Céline sunglasses, and you’re it — that’s how they function in their fashion minds.”
— Demna in an interview with Vestoj journal titled ‘On Authenticity’, 2017

[owensnape]

As someone who has just begun to learn about the world of fashion in the light that you express, Bliss, it’s incredibly exciting to me to see these kinds of art pieces. The level of detail and intrigue that Demna infused into this show is something I only thought existed in music or “traditional art.” However, this show was eerie to me. As soon as I saw the first second of the first shot, a lot of the concept clicked immediately. The fact that I needed only a second to understand the context and basic commentary shows how scary these things truly are, at least for me, because it’s no longer a weird dystopia that Demna is presenting, it’s actually life. This video taught me to not be afraid to present your ideas, no matter the position you sit in because at least someone out there will feel seen and connect with that idea. As head designer for a mogul in fashion, Demna opened a door with this concept that is so close to critiquing his own employer, at least in my eyes. Wonderful video :)

[BlissBodyYoga]

Your commentary is just as mind blowing as the show tbh. I just love how you break down the complexities of our current time and feed it back to us with such eloquence and clarity as if it's nothing. You're amazing x

[SweatDogg]

Great upload Bliss. I think one of my favourite point's in Demna's show that you touched on is the homogenization of the luxury market, especially of our symbolic values. I think it gives more context to Demna's "hacking" of Gucci's most iconic symbols of wealth, whereas at surface value it might have appeared more a nod to the counterfeit market.

Very glad to have this resource to help understand these things a whole lot better :)

[morganslade]

This video was awesome and very thought provoking. I think it's interesting that while commenting on homogenization Demna has presented a collection that would be hard for anyone to replicate in their own personal style. I might be off on that but the volume and silhouettes of the looks seem extreme or warped in a way. It's interesting to see these points raised within fashion, as I've gotten more into fashion sometimes I wonder what my personal style actually is. Once the technology I use and interact with becomes aware of my interest in fashion I am fed images and videos of clothing and people an algorithm thinks will capture and hold my attention. I think this can lead to an inauthentic experience. Despite the fact that I planted the seed and searched something to do with fashion or liked some ones fit pic, I cannot help but wonder how my path is diverted and influenced by algorithms.

[iAnon]

I’m just now “getting into fashion” but have always appreciated and participated in other forms of art. This video has truly opened my eyes to the depth that can be achieved through this medium, so thank you for that. Love always.

[Ninjanugets]

i love your content bliss. Learning about words like Gestalt somehow transforms the way i think about the world, and I'm amazed by your amount of knowledge of fashion. To have a condensed analysis of these shows is really wonderful for someone who doesn't know much about fashion.

[isaiahmoran]

By far my favorite analytical video by you

[DennisVilensky]

Going to bring up two other youtubers who have made related comments that I agree with and feel fit into this convo well:

ThisisAntwon just talked about the internet homogenizing fashion/trends in his most recent video where he responded to a comment saying "techwear lacks creativity" and basically attributes this to social media/internet culture where because we have these subgroups, everyone wants to fit into the subgroup by buying the same items everyone else is wearing. So even though brands like Hamcus exist and are way more interesting and fit into techwear so well, everyone still buys the same acronym and nike acg jackets/pants (at least a first then maybe branch out once they've fit in to the group). I feel like this is true of fashion overall as well and really any subculture, you can categorize "influencers" as their own subculture of "trend chasers" who all need to wear the same or very similar items which then bleeds into the mainstream till you walk into an H&M filled with clones.

And then regarding a lack of anti-mainstream subcultures, Anthony Fantano (theneedledrop) did a video a while back replying to a video from Paul Joseph Watson (of Infowars) about his complaint that there is no subculture anymore and he says that that's not really true, the subcultures still do exist, but they exist on the internet in a way that "gives them a seat at the table". True you don't have to go to an underground concert to complain about Springsteen anymore, but there's certainly no shortage of people complaining about springsteen and you can do it in as public or as private a setting as you want on the internet, whether you want to tweet that opinion at Springsteen fans or join a discord/subreddit exclusively for springsteen haters. Those groups are just easier to find now. And the same thing can be said for fashion, where if I tell my friends that I want shoes with tabi toes they're going to think that's weird, but if I mention it online I'll get engagement, agreement, and questions about what colors I want them in.

I feel like every week someone is having a conversation about whether or not social media ruined fashion and I think that's almost the wrong question to ask, or at least too broad of a question to ask. I think the question is "for whom did social media ruin fashion?" I think you mentioned in a video a while back how there's a whole group of people who live without ever caring about what they wear, for those people, social media has had 0 effect. Then there's those who care about looking good but have no idea who margiela are, I think if it's ruined fashion for anyone, it's that group of people. The ones who are buying from H&M, Zara, Shein, Fashion Nova, etc. Where they're buying essentially balenciaga and rick owens designs but ripped off and made more accessible but in a way that sheds the uniqueness of those original designers. Then I think there's people like your viewers, for whom social media is a net positive. We now have access to more information, images, footage, etc of the world of fashion that we care about than we ever have before, so it's easier to appreciate it more. And I think (at least for me) social media was kind of a great gateway to move from that trendy fast fashion world into the deeper world we're talking about on channels like this one.

[jztouch]

I’m not surprised at all to see Eliza as the muse for Denma at Balenciaga. I used to see her around NYC years ago and knew there was something special about her. She was always impossibly chic and just very much her own unique presence. I also found her to be very down to Earth.

[odysseusdadon]

Definitely my favorite video of yours so far. You only getting better. Content creators like you should have more of platform to make fashion more understandable to the basic man. Love it

[douglasdacosta]

i had recently commented on HFT group’s instagram about how i thought the idea of Spring 22 show idea was genius but the lack of new silhouettes was boring. but after watching this i realize that’s the entire point.

[kathyhoyer]

What did I learn? I don't even know where to begin...I need to watch this, and will, several times just to define it, But basically it gave me so much inside into your generation and what you are dealing with on a deeper level other then wanting to buy designer products....something that my generation (I am 69) did not even consider. Bliss I so appreciate your philosophical approach to fashion! It is being changed by the times we live in, just like all of us.Thanks again for an amazing post. xox

[guidohoek]

What I have learned from this, is:
That a self-aware fashion industry functions as on of the best platforms for performance art, as i it’s the most upper layer of society, as affordable material goods, and all other layers, as staple of wealth to be longed for to obtain by the viewer.

I have learned that value in function and beauty, to me essential to owning any product, are both replaceable for Sign Value.

I have learned that Value and wealth are sorta the same inside Sigh Value.

I have learned that it is incredibly difficult to use all the right terms in all the right places and meanings, but practice makes perfect:)

Thanks for your great analysis!!

[cartoonziamaker]

I'm just getting deeply into fashion and really enjoy your takes! It was interesting your breakdown on how his collections represent our possible future society, and at the end how it may make us feel seeing it represented this way in fashion, it is eery.