Today’s Balenciaga show felt surreal from the start. As we walked into the Bois de Boulogne, a secluded part of Paris notorious for the pursuit of passions less salubrious than menswear, there were black suited security guards sprinkled around us in the undergrowth. There were stands dispensing Balenciaga-branded ice tea.
On the runway, a walking path called Route du Lac, some said the looks were “dadcore.” If so then these dads were pretty twisted patriarchs. The addition to this scene of Kyle MacLachlan wearing a funereal topcoat with stacked shoulders only added to the bucolic oddness of it all. He was clearly into the collection, afterwards nominating an oversized quilted green short sleeved shirt as his favourite piece to Demna Gvasalia. “Some people can think this is quite bad taste,” said Gvasalia, looking rather pleased.
MacLachlan said of the collection: “there were so many ideas, Oh My Lord. I’m particularly interested in the shirts in plastic, because of Twin Peaks. Obviously it all started with Laura Palmer being wrapped in plastic, so I drew it back to the show. And that jacket with the dragon on it…” At this point Gvasalia drifted across. A Balenciaga representative asked me if I would photograph the two men (told you today was surreal). Had MacLachlan inspired this collection?
The designer replied: “Kyle and his work have been inspirational to me throughout, I would say, the seven years that I have been in fashion. My mood board has very often featured him. So I was very excited that he could be here today.”
If season three of Twin Peaks happens, as has been hinted, who would bet against a Gvasalia cameo?