The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
PARIS, France — Balenciaga shows give good curtain. The walls of the venues for Wednesday morning's men's' show were the kind of grey vertical slat blinds you find in high-rise offices. Corporate decor. Because, according to Demna Gvasalia, "corporate" was le mot juste for the collection. Balenciaga recently relocated to the same building where parent corp Kering is housed. Now Gvasalia swims in a daily sea of collar-and-tie convention. "He's the kind of man who might go into the office to work on Sunday", he mused. But where other free-thinking peers might find "corporate" a dirty word, especially as the March of the Trumpkins corrals democracy into one giant business opportunity for oligarchs, this designer embraced it. "It's a reality." And an opportunity for him as well, he added, "to take away the rigidity of the corporate suit." He insisted he was after warmth, cosiness, comfort.
From where aspirational customers are spending to Kering’s challenges and Richemont’s fashion revival, BoF’s editor-in-chief shares key takeaways from conversations with industry insiders in London, Milan and Paris.
BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks and Imran Amed, BoF founder and editor-in-chief, look back at the key moments of fashion month, from Seán McGirr’s debut at Alexander McQueen to Chemena Kamali’s first collection for Chloé.
Anthony Vaccarello staged a surprise show to launch a collection of gorgeously languid men’s tailoring, writes Tim Blanks.
BoF’s editors pick the best shows of the Autumn/Winter 2024 season.