Fashion nerds who spend their evenings scouring YouTube for old runway films will know this season’s Balenciaga reference well: gritty, dusty footage from some warehouse 1990s fashion show that became the stuff of legend, complete with arrivals and post-show commentary from industry icons. The Lost Tape, as Demna titled his digital show (and it is just “Demna” now, but more on that later), was his ode to the era that shaped his aesthetic, but also to his anti-fashion approach to the industry.
Don’t call it nostalgia. “I don’t like to look back to the past, I find this useless,” Demna wrote in an email after the film went live. “The Lost Tape is more of a poetic artefact that highlights the importance of emotion in fashion: this raw, unpolished, smudged and somewhat nasty aesthetic of ’90s fashion; the era that really pre-defined not only my sense of style, but also most of what we see people wear today. This was my very ‘analog’ effort to fill up a historical gap in Balenciaga’s fashion history.”
It was decidedly Belgian
Demna has never made a secret of the fact that the subversive meta universe that defines his work – and not least this collection, which his show notes wittily dubbed “avant-goth” – is founded in the philosophies of the Belgian designers he grew up loving. This includes Martin Margiela whose house Demna worked for after the designer sold it, but whose anti-fashion principles can seem far-removed from the mainstream, household stature of Balenciaga today. “Haha, I have really never felt like a mainstream household fixture,” Demna said.
Demna has never made a secret of the fact that the subversive meta universe that defines his work – and not least this collection, which his show notes wittily dubbed “avant-goth” – is founded in the philosophies of the Belgian designers he grew up loving. This includes Martin Margiela whose house Demna worked for after the designer sold it, but whose anti-fashion principles can seem far-removed from the mainstream, household stature of Balenciaga today. “Haha, I have really never felt like a mainstream household fixture,” Demna said.
It reconfirmed Demna’s core values
In essence, The Lost Tape could be seen as a reminder for Demna’s industry of his core values in a time when Balenciaga is tying strong bonds to red carpet culture – by way of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West – and conquering greater territory. “In fact, regardless of Balenciaga being a global brand, I am still the same designer I was 10 years ago that was formed and shaped by that esoteric, cultish, somewhat Belgian style,” he said. “Fashion is a roleplay for me, as it always used to be. The difference is that I finally have enough confidence in myself to enjoy it and to really have more fun than ever.”
In essence, The Lost Tape could be seen as a reminder for Demna’s industry of his core values in a time when Balenciaga is tying strong bonds to red carpet culture – by way of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West – and conquering greater territory. “In fact, regardless of Balenciaga being a global brand, I am still the same designer I was 10 years ago that was formed and shaped by that esoteric, cultish, somewhat Belgian style,” he said. “Fashion is a roleplay for me, as it always used to be. The difference is that I finally have enough confidence in myself to enjoy it and to really have more fun than ever.”
Demna will no longer use his surname
The show notes confirmed a rumour that’s been going on for a while: Demna no longer uses his surname – Gvasalia – in a professional context. “You know how often people actually misspelled and mispronounced my family name in the Western world since I arrived here 20 years ago? I certainly could not count the number of times,” he said. “But what I do know is that I’m lucky to have a first name that is weird enough for me to be the only Demna you probably ever heard of. So, to make things easier and really separate my professional and personal identities, I decided to communicate my work only with my first name. This is an artistic choice and decision that is an inevitable step of my creative journey.” Demna it is, then.
The show notes confirmed a rumour that’s been going on for a while: Demna no longer uses his surname – Gvasalia – in a professional context. “You know how often people actually misspelled and mispronounced my family name in the Western world since I arrived here 20 years ago? I certainly could not count the number of times,” he said. “But what I do know is that I’m lucky to have a first name that is weird enough for me to be the only Demna you probably ever heard of. So, to make things easier and really separate my professional and personal identities, I decided to communicate my work only with my first name. This is an artistic choice and decision that is an inevitable step of my creative journey.” Demna it is, then.
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