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image source, Balenciaga
Sneakers launched by the Balenciaga brand at a cost of US$1,850 and whose style is “dirty” and “broken”.
Torn, dirty, but for sale for $1,850.
The luxurious brand Balenciaga released a worn version of his sneakers Paris High Topwhich he has baptized as the Full Destroyed or completely destroyed.
According to the firm’s portal, the shoe is a limited edition and is available in black and white. The model is also engraved with the coveted company name.
The new creation, however, has been criticized in social networks and has caused the creation of many memes.
But who is behind the new shoe?
A refugee designer
They bear the designer’s signature Demna Gvasaliacreative director of Balenciaga since 2015.
Gvasalia was born in Georgia in 1981 when the country was under Soviet rule. But in 1993, when he was 12 years old, he became a refugee, because his family left the country because of a civil war.
He later returned to Georgia to study international economics at Tbilisi State University in the country’s capital.
After graduation she attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, where she earned her master’s degree in fashion design in 2006.
Today she lives with her husband, the French musician and composer Loick Gomez, and his two dogs in a town near Zurich, Switzerland. She is fluent in six languages.
The refugee experience shaped his personality and is reflected in his collections. At the most recent Paris Fashion Week, held in March this year, Gvasalia paid tribute to refugees.
image source, Getty Images
Demna Gvasalia, creative director of the Balenciaga brand, fled his native Georgia in the midst of civil war.
As the models walked, he recited a poem in Ukrainian, something he confessed it was difficult on a personal level.
The crisis in Ukraine, according to the Georgian, has revived an old trauma.
“I have become a refugee forever“, he said in a statement issued before the parade.
“Forever, because that is something that stays with us. The fear, the desperation, the realization that nobody loves us,” he added.
From illustrious unknown to fashion star
When appointed by the luxury conglomerate Kering, owner of Balenciaga and other brands such as Saint Laurent and Gucci, Gvasalia was an unknown.
image source, Getty Images
In 2019, Balenciaga’s revenue exceeded US$1 billion, with millennials being its main customers.
His foray into the industry came as the founder of Vetements, the anarchic streetwear brand he launched with his brother Guram in 2014.
But with his subversive style and activism, the Georgian has already cemented his name as a star in the select universe of celebrity stylists.
It has also made Balenciaga the brand of fastest growing in the luxury market.
In 2019, its revenue exceeded $1 billion and it was considered one of the top three companies in The Lyst Index, a ranking quarterly of the most popular fashion brands and products.
To do this, Gvasalia has a loyal audience: millennials, who represent 65% of Balenciaga’s customers.
image source, Getty Images
Kim Kardashian and Demna Gvasalia attended the 2021 Met Gala dressed in black. The theme of that edition was America: A Lexicon Of Fashion.
“I think this decade probably represented the most chaotic time in fashion,” Gvasalia said of the changes in the industry in an interview with the British newspaper. Financial Times in 2019.
“It’s been pretty scary. But times have changed. The way we communicate with our customers today is a whole different story,” he added.
Speak to a younger generation
And, at least for now, Gvasalia seems to know how to communicate with his public.
No wonder he describes himself as “a voyeur from Instagram”. The designer is known for creating “sticky” visual content that proliferates online.
“The younger generation is very informed and very politicized. And I think it’s time for activism and people to stand up,” he told the Financial Times in the same interview.
image source, Getty Images
That’s what happened with their hybrid shoe, the Triple S, which combines three different shoe soles and is Balenciaga’s best-seller.
In the opinion of Katy Lubin, vice president of communications at Lyst, Gvasalia is “the grand mastero from fashion memesand says he sees “a huge increase in pageviews for Balenciaga’s more experimental pieces as they go viral.”
Despite this, Gvasalia told the British newspaper that he does not worry so much regarding the likesbut he listens to his “intuition”.
“In the end, I try to communicate through clothes. I don’t tweet, thank God, or do anything like that. I make clothes. For me, Instagram likes are as irrelevant as making a product and then doing research.” what do people like?
It now remains to be seen whether Gvasalia’s intuition is sharp: will the “destroyed” sneaker be a bestseller?
If we get carried away by their latest releases, most likely yes.
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