buted at Chloé and Nicolas Ghesquière became Balenciaga’s creative director. That year saw the emergence of the no- tion that almost any neglected herit- age brand could be revitalised, as long as it has decent archives. Every fashion house was expected to grow endless- ly, with the belief that bigger is always better. It was in 1997 that the seeds were sown for luxury to become a cor- porate commodity that could flourish on the stock market alongside oil and cars. Fashion had become part of pop culture, with all its influence and prob- lems. And how does that all look in re- ality, as we observe the trends for this spring? I was enchanted by the ease of Piccioli’s version of
Balenciaga, but also his refusal to im- mediately and completely demolish what had been built by Demna, as his predecessor. His work included a de- gree of decorum and elegance. He of- fered women clothes that pay homage to the famous tradition of this fashion house, but alongside a hint of Demna’s exploration of silhouettes. His vision includes bubble jackets that function as an “elegant refuge” for the body, as well as the option to wear velvet platform flip-flops. And perhaps the greatest gift that many designers are reluctant to provide for their customers: pockets! Arriving at Dior, Jonathan Anderson introduced a touch of chaos to this grand Parisian atelier with his tiny Bar jackets, miniature pleated skirts and playful take on forms like cargo shorts. But what will all that Dior denim on the catwalks really mean as a new gen- eration of consumers grapples with their own definition of luxury and the notion of true fash-
ion discernment?
If nothing else, we know that there’s a little more beauty in the world today than yesterday. But beau- ty is never just beauty in fashion — it is always a signal, an indication, a mi- ni weather forecast on the spirit of the era. And that’s precisely what makes this moment so interesting. Fashion’s new order may seem like a series of moves that merely relocate the same pieces on the chessboard of luxury, but history teaches us that such moments often hide quieter yet deeper changes. Perhaps it will only become clear in a few seasons whether this generation has actually changed the course of fash- ion or merely extended its existing hab- its. Will luxury continue to expand like the global entertainment industry, or will it, paradoxically, rediscover the val- ue of intimacy: craft, slowness, pieces that outlast an algorithm. That’s because fashion doesn’t on- ly exist on the catwalks today. It lives in an infinite digi-
tal mirror — on tele- phones, in viral clips, in the seconds of at- tention that decide what becomes de- sirable. The design- ers now taking over these great houses must negotiate not only with the history of the brand, but al- so with the rhythm of the internet and with a generation that seeks authenticity, but also spectacle. In that sense, fashion’s new order might not be a revo- lution in the classical sense. It’s more remi- niscent of the careful rearranging of a stage ahead of the next act. The costumes have changed, the actors are partially new, but the audience — glob- al, impatient and ever more demanding — is watching more closely than ever before!
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