53E COLLECTION

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COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0136 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 5 FRONT MARCELO 4780
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0132 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 6 FRONT NOURREDINE 1030
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COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0120 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 9 FRONT LIAM 3327
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COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0112 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 11 FRONT BENJAMIN 1169
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0108 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 12 FRONT REECE 3791
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0104 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 13 FRONT FANGYE 4295 3
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0100 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 14 FRONT LOIC 3933
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0096 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 15 FRONT LAURI 3502
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0092 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 16 FRONT JESSICA 0988
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0088 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 17 FRONT ANDRE 6305
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COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0048 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 27 FRONT MARIACARLA 5176
COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0044 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 28 FRONT AGEL 4919
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COUTURE 53RD 2X3 2000x3000 0016 Balenciaga Couture24 LOOK 35 FRONT SIMONE 1622
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BALENCIAGA 53RD COUTURE COLLECTION

This Couture Collection is a tribute to subculture dress codes as important influences of my fashion vocabulary. I chose four permanent components of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s last two decades of collections and applied them on my design aesthetic in order to create a bridge between Balenciaga’s signature elegance and silhouette and my own personal style.


These four omnipresent codes were 3/4 length sleeves, a focus on profile of silhouette and cocoon shapes, extravagant and at times eccentric headwear and fabric innovation.


Everyday wardrobe garments are lined in silk scuba satin to support their comfortable cocoon-like shapes. Jackets that seem be worn tied around hips are engineered into the trousers and become one garment.


T-shirt prints are oil hand-painted drawings, a flannel shirt is interpreted in a silk tuffetage embroidery, a faux fur coat is made of synthetic hair that is shaped and hand-dyed and takes approximately 2.5 months to make, a maxi goth dress is made in knitwear embroidery with black upcycled glass beads.


Variety of garments and accessories are upcycled and reconstructed into bustier and draped body-conscious twisted gowns and an all-you-can-wear bell-shaped ball dress.


A white column dress is made of melted and upcycled plastic bags and molded onto a body.


Another dress is made of one entire piece of black leather without any cut edges – no darts, no seams, held with a giant safety pin.


A bustier column of aluminum foil crunches and melds around the body. Another bustier dress is made of faux fur, but it uses traditional fur patternmaking as tiny strips are cut and sewn together in a herringbone arrangement, mimicking a centuries-old tradition of reusing scraps and taking 7.5 weeks to produce.


A molded and seamless second skin dress of deep black flocked leather becomes a wearable jewelry display, and it is worn with an original archival Cristóbal Balenciaga necklace from 1960.


The finale piece is an ephemeral black nylon dress that only exists for the duration of one event. It is made of 47 meters of fabric and assembled by the Couture Atelier team in a choreographed process directly around the body of the person and is destined to be only worn once.


Credits:
Hand painting - Abdelhak Benallou
Synthetic hair faux fur coat - Gary Gill, Tasos Constantinou
Headwear - Ni Hao, Alastair Gibson, Yumi Okita