WHEN DEMNA LEAVES
The doors of Kering are opening wide for just a few days, with the (free) retrospective devoted to the ten years of Demna as artistic director of Balenciaga.
Ten years of fashion, ten years of big splits and silhouettes whose proportions have gone from XL to XS. With Demna's arrival at Balenciaga in 2015, streetwear seized on tradition and turned it on its head to offer collections that celebrate itself. To those who find him forgetful, Demna responds in memorial and heritage mode. From invitations (real fake wallets, Ebay boxes, etc.) to accessories (giant sneakers, stiletto bags, etc.), not forgetting dresses, jackets and hoodies — the whole Demna galaxy comes together in constellation at the former Laennec hospital, which has become the setting for an ephemeral two-part retrospective. On one side, an almost papal, Vatican dimension, with a room reserved for everyday objects that have been misappropriated and laid out like relics; on the other, an immobile procession of clothes, with Demna's voice "walking" in a loop — one for each silhouette — and telegraphing with cacophonous effect. The highlight of the exhibition is an e-mail dated May 17, 2007, in which Demna was rejected for an internship… to Balenciaga.
All these silhouettes — from the houndstooth suit worn with ‘boudoir cuissardes’ on a reconstituted mannequin, to the latest wedding dress and Demna's silhouette — give visitors the impression of a perfectly mastered journey through time. Archival one-armed coats, prototypes, cardboard-style shopping bags in grey leather, Ebay boxes labelled ‘Winter 24 collection’ — here, consumer society has a rendezvous with craftsmanship, the ‘rodeo bag’ weighted down with locks and charms (this one, the designer's own), and a floral dress in Spandex with pagoda shoulders. This amounts to a unique testament of a style that has hijacked good and bad taste, extending the concept of the ready-made announced by Marcel Duchamp in 1913.
A deconstruction of appearances already laid out by others, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela and Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons). The false normality of a scotch tape roll merges with a coat entirely embroidered with fake feathers, an XL court coat or a baggy ensemble, complete with a ‘traditional assembly guide’, which doubles as the invitation to the Summer 2024 fashion show. There was no trace of the accessories from the advertising campaign that caused such a scandal in 2022. Ultimately, Demna, a time artificer, blurs the lines even further, to the point of creating an illusion within an illusion, with this colourful procession where upcycling reigns supreme.
40 Rue de Sèvres
75007 Paris, until the 9th of July, 2025.