Paris (EFE).- The Balenciaga parade this Sunday became an allegation against the war in Ukraine by the creative director of the brand, the Georgian Demna Gvasalia, who organized one of the most emotional and vindictive catwalks of the last days.
“This war in Ukraine has awakened the pain of a past trauma that I have carried with me since 1993.when the same thing happened in my country and I became a refugee forever,” the designer wrote in a note received by the guests.
Attendees, who had received broken iPhones with parade details by invitation, also found Ukrainian flags on their seats.
The firm had already spoken about it this week, when it began using its Instagram account to publish only content about the war in Ukraine, after the Russian military invasion that began on February 24.
“It’s something that stays with you. The fear, the desperation, the feeling that nobody loves you. But it also made me understand what matters in life, like life itself and human love and compassion,” Gvasalia added about the suffering and his own experience as a refugee.
Gvasalia, originally from the pro-Russian separatist region of Abkhazia, considered independent by Russia and a few other states, left his country with his family due to the wars that began in the area in 1993.
As a teenager, his family left the region across the Caucasus Mountains on a donkey and settled in Dusseldorf, Germany.
A traumatic personal story that has already been a source of inspiration and common thread for old collections at Balenciaga, a brand he joined in 2015, also occasionally resorting to a casting of models made up entirely of Georgians.
melancholy and snow
On the catwalk, accompanied by the slow melody of a piano, the models paraded on a stage full of artificial snow, where the wind was complicating the march of the mannequins, increasingly hampered by the weather conditions recreated for the show.
“This parade needs no explanation. It is a tribute to the intrepid, to the resistance and to the victory of love and peace”, settled Gvasalia in the statement.
Many of the attendees reacted to this proposal with tears, in the context of a Paris Fashion Week that has also been disrupted by the impact of the war, not only on an emotional level.
The Haute Couture and Fashion Federation, organizer of the event, called for solemnity at the events earlier this week, so dinners and other parties were cancelled.
In addition, in many shows, designers have made gestures in favor of Ukraine and numerous brands have made donations to associations that are helping the civilian population, such as Balenciaga, the Kering group or Balmain, among others.
Gradually, groups such as Hermès, Chanel, LVMH and Kering have announced the temporary closure of their stores in Russia as of this very Sunday, and many online stores and designers have suspended sales with the country.
Aside from the Balenciaga show this Sunday, about which Gvasalia even considered canceling it, the brand’s autumn-winter 2022/2023 collection was marked by wide silhouettes and dark colors: wide masculine coats and high boots, futuristic shades and long knitted dresses
More than dresses, the garments seemed to simply mark the outline of silhouettes that walked through the snow like shadows, even carrying garbage bags.
Another of the moments of the parade was the presence of the businesswoman and influencer Kim Kardashian, who attended as a guest wearing a jumpsuit made from adhesive tape with the Balenciaga logo all over her body.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
