Carmen Pascal / 22 March 2025 / Categories: Product and Brands, Branded Products, Clothes

House of Balenciaga is it going bust?

The future after Gustav Demna

Over the last couple of weeks the fashion press has been full of the news creative director Demna Gvasalia is taking over from Sabato De Sarno as creative director of Gucci. Both house fall under the Kering fashion umbrella headed up by King of Fashion Francois Henri Pinault.

The Spanish house has been in a state of flux I feel after the more than a faux pas a deux, the child exploitation case text from a US supreme court that appeared in a handbag image that surfaced in 2022 as part of an advertising campaign Balenciaga said was a mistake following a similar mistake prior showing children cuddling teddy bears in what appeared to be bondage garb which led to high profile ambassadors and friends of Gvasalia Demna like Kim Kardashian to say she was re-evaluating her relationship with the brand. Brand Ambassador and Hollywood A lister Nicole Kidman stayed quiet, choosing to make no statement amid the controversy, despite being slammed by the global media for staying quiet on the issue whilst the photographer who shot the pictures, Gabriele Galimberti took most of the blame.

Following this at the end of 2023, December, the stars rallied around Demna for a street show in a Los Angeles neighbourhood close to downtown, the streets of Windsor Boulevard and Hancock park were cordoned off for the Balenciaga Fall 24 show like nothing had happened and the stars rocked up with Erewhon raffia totes and smoothies wearing leggings and sneakers.

The roll call sent a message to the doubters and the haters with the Hollywood sign as the back drop the stars studded line up on parade with Nicole Kidman flanked by Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner, mom and Beverley housewife Lisa Rinna with daughters Amelia Gray, and Delilah Belle, Sexxy Red, Eva Longoria, Luka Sabbat, Fai Khadra, Ken Carson, and Rachel Sennot, Nicole leading the charge, dressed all in black with a new super sleek hair do every was talking about.

Even Salma Hayek, wife of Kering boss showed up to support.

But it wasn't enough and Demna is going to Gucci with no announcement yet who is talking over the top job at Balenciaga. Kering say he starts his new role with Gucci in July 2025 and he will not be crossing over, I am not so sure what will happen to the House of Balenciaga.

For me the lines have blurred for fashion and the loss of creativity is the price, designers being pushed to deliver multiple collections every year by big machines, big business with the eye very firmly on the bottom line. I think pushing too hard, pushed Balenciaga over cliff, helped along by photographers, journalists and commentators wading in on the "child abuse" discussion because it is explosive and gave lesser well known voices something to pontificate over, not always accurately.

I am tall and lanky like Nicole Kidman so the Balenciaga silhouette, cropped jackets, wide leg pants, masculine tailoring does suit my frame. I don't believe the darker suggestion that the creative process was in some way evil and I hope this hiatus for the house will allow the new person taking the reins not to yield to the pressure from big bosses in shiny towers but to retain the down to earth modern direction Demna was going.

There were mistakes for sure but in my mind not in the design, The last 5 or 6 years have been an inadvertent PR disaster for Balenciaga. The sales at both Gucci and Balenciaga have been dropping since 2023. Gucci lost 24% of its sales in fourth quarter 2024 where Balenciaga numbers continued to fall after losing 7% of value the previous year.

It's clearly time for a reset. I am not sure moving the talent that is Gvasalia Demna to a failing House of Gucci. Why not give him his own eponymous label and start again with Gucci and Balenciaga