The rumor mill around who would succeed Alexander Wang at Balenciaga was a short-lived one as the house announced last night that it had made its decision: Vêtements' Demna Gvasalia.
According to a statement from Kering, Balenciaga's parent company, Gvasalia "will take creative responsibility for the brand’s collections and the image of the maison. He will present his first collection for the brand at the women’s ready-to-wear autumn/winter 2016-17 show in Paris." He takes his post effective immediately to get shit cracking.
Balenciaga CEO and president Isabelle Guichot told WWD. "We really wanted somebody that had a vision, and someone capable of reshuffling the cards." That's for sure. Vêtements has amassed a cult following around its oversized and off-kilter streetwear look that stands in fairly stark contrast to the glamor of Balenciaga and garnered fans in Rihanna and Kanye West.
Some quick background on Gvasalia: He's 34-years-old, hails from Georgia (the country, not the state) and before launching Vêtements spent time at Margiela and Louis Vuitton working on their women's collections. His ascent has been a quick one. Vêtements has shot to success and grown to 85 stockists internationally since its founding just last year.
Gvasalia's savvy when it comes to the fast-paced change within the industry was one of the major reasons he was chosen for the position, according to Guichot. But she says the idea of him taking Balenciaga in an edgier direction isn't going to happen as much as we would like to see it. We'll just have to wait for the final product, I suppose.
