AW 2000: “This sort of D’Orsay shoe with a mini heel from Ghesquière’s fifth Balenciaga collection is an iconic piece that represents a certain type of woman and silhouette of this era to me. It’ s very Emanuelle Alt. The big opening in the front with the very short, pointy toe cap finishing just above the toes was a characteristic element of this collection, laying bare a large part of the foot and elongating the leg. The collection was an eclectic mix of retro-futuristic and more-historical references. A play between fluidity and rigid forms characterised the garments. There were these sharp jackets and dresses inspired by the V TV series and Blade Runner, contrasting with these opulent animal prints and raw unfinished tapestry shoulder pads. I got this shoe not long ago from a French online shop.”
SS 2001: “This modern interpretation of a traditional flamenco-type shoe is an iconic piece that's hard to find. The heel is a signature shape that Ghesquière kept on repeating. This heel may seem very conventional but hight and cut remain a very obvious Ghesquière sigature. I got this on a couple of years ago on eBay US. It's generally hard to identify and track down pieces from this era as you have only frontal runwaay images from these older collections and they weren't yet doing detail photographs.”
AW 2002: “This is the only collection Ghesquière did in New York and it was defining for the brand’s DNA. Ghesquière accentuated the silhouette that he would keep on reworking: super-high waist and a garment construction that creates very long legs and a short micro-bust. This silhouette stands for a very specific French type of woman: Emanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld, Marie-Amélie Sauvé or earlier incarnations of this type, such as Jane Birkin or Françoise Hardy: that’s the Ghesquière girl. I got these shoes from someone who worked at Balenciaga at the time. The sole is made of some sort of lacquered resin and the top is made of nubuck. It brings to mind the Elda chair from Joe Colombo, white plastic base with padded leather.”
SS 2003: “These sandals are from the ‘Scuba’ collection, where Ghesquière created sportswear-inspired garments made of a neoprene-like material. The trousers are almost like a second skin: again you have a short top and very high waist. They are full of details, a lot of seams in the construction with invisible zippers: no clear function, majorly aesthetic. The excessive use of one hardware element within one piece is characteristic of Ghesquière at Balenciaga. He took a functional basic thing and turned it into something decorative and baroque through repetition. Too many things going on, but it’s still so minimal at the same time. For instance. these sandals are made of five loops: way more than needed. The heel is blue-dyed wood, which adds to its monolithic look. The front of the foot-bed is some sort of padded leather, almost like some soft furniture element: there’s some sort of foam worked in underneath the leather. Others tried to recreate this later but never as brilliantly, it always looked like something was missing in their designs.”
AW 2003: “Originally in brown leather, this is a distressed boot from the 2003 collection: definitely an iconic Ghesquière shape and one of the shoes of the time. It’s like the comfortable, easy-to-wear high shoe. Inside the front part, there is an additional platform that creates these high proportions and again elongates the legs in a sort of trompe-l’oeil effect. He uses the same construction in the SS 2004 shoes. I bought these recently as I wanted them in addition to the pristine model I already had.”
AW 2003: “This is exactly the same fit as the boot. Just a higher cut and made of raw leather only, no lining, a kind of brut finishing. It’s like a second skin. This pair of tight boots generates endless legs and was often associated with very short garments.”
SS 2003: “Again, here you have this accumulation and exaggeration of details, but still with such a minimal and pure result. This top is made from classic striped piqué with a lot of direct zig-zag stitching to support the deconstructed proportion. There’s this button plaquette twist with many buttons in different sizes, and trompe-l’oeil layering sleeve cuffs. This one is considered a major Ghesquière reference.”
SS 2004: “It has exactly the same heel and platform shape as the AW 2003 boots. The top is made of perforated snakeskin and leather and is reminiscent of 1970s children’s shoes. There’s also this sporty element that reminds me of bowling or golfing shoes. The heel and sole are made of rubber and create a modern, futuristic contrast.”
SS 2004: “This pencil skirt and short-sleeve jacket are from the same collection. The top has this ergonomic construction, which is very tight around the body with flowing sleeves and volume around the shoulders. The whole collection was a sort of homage to Alaïa for me, including many plastic finishing details as inserts. Again, an unreasonable amount of hardware is worked into the jacket: there are about 20 to 30 eyelets to close it. I believe this was the smallest collection that Ghesquière did. It was just 24 looks: the story goes that a part of the collection went missing in the days leading up to the show.”
AW 2004: “This was a special collection in terms of image. There were women and men walking the runway and there are a number of unisex garments that fit both men and women. I have a woman’s jacket from this collection that fits me perfectly. This is also the first collection when he started to work with lots of shearling and there were all these functional elements of military and utilitarian clothing: zippers, snaps, leather tape. Looking at the boot it’s like the deconstructed element of a bomber jacket. And there’s this explosion of shearling coming from the inside at the top. The sole is exactly the same shape as the AW 2002 pump above, but as a solid shape in this shiny lacquered finish.”
SS 2005: “In my opinion, the SS 2005 and AW 2004 shows are Ghesquière’s Arcadia of my Youth era, the 70s Japanese space opera anime with its romantic retro-futuristic aesthetic and a specific type of girl attitude. Ceremonial military elements inspire both collections. This gladiator boot is made of exotic navy leather. The construction is created by a rigid front zipper, which is also reminiscent of the deconstructed front of a military or bomber jacket. The side straps have leather embroidery. The boot also introduces a new heel shape: the triangular shape formed between the heel and the front part is specific to Ghesquière.”
AW 2005: “This pump has the same triangular shape as the SS 2005 gladiator boot. It’s very skinny in profile and has a flat toe. It’s made of velour, exotic leather, some sort of lizard on the heel, as well as the plaquette on the front. This flap element on top of the shoe tip is closing hardware used for leather bags. You can actually open it up. So again there’s this appropriation and incorporation of a strange technical element into the design.”
AW 2006: “This is a classic Twiggyish Mary Jane shoe at the top, with an ergonomic solid sole with marquetry inlays. I used to have an old Mini Cooper with similar interior features, and it always reminded me of this. The tights are from the same collection. They are matt opaque with openwork knitting on the side.”
AW 2007: “This is from the ‘Lego’ Balenciaga collection. It had a college spirit and teenage turbulence vibe. There were these back-to-school jackets and many hardware elements inspired by sports gear: netting and leather layers, mini padding, and plastic buckles reminiscent of ice hockey and American football protection garments.”
AW 2008: “This is a highly constructed leather jacket from the same collection, very cropped and armor-like. It has this specific snap worked into the front. The construction also references techniques from Cristóbal Balenciaga with the raglan sleeves and the rounded back.”
AW 2008: “Those shoes are really particular in their materiality. It’s a patchwork of different glossy and metallic leathers and the shoe tip is made of leather with a layer of plastic on top, and the heel has this metallic finish. It’s quite an aggressive shape and encapsulates a new direction and new type of Ghesquière woman starting with this collection. Until then it was about this playful, effortless French girl. Now it’s more grown up, also some sort of futuristic robot business woman from the future. A lot of construction on the jackets and garments are fixed to the body; like some sort of armor, using new materials: latex, silicon, plastic. This phase is also a reference to a type of early 90s Thierry Mugler and Claude Montana woman.”
SS 2013: “This is from Ghesquière’s last Balenciaga collection. The top is some sort of Richelieu masculine shoe shape sitting on these architectural metal elements. There are different variations of this model, in different colors, and also with this heel as a solid. This collection had a very specific type of casting: very young-looking, childlike women in the uniform-inspired garments. It felt like a fairy cosplay uniform. This final collection was probably the most commercial of all but here Ghesquière explored a lot of new technical fabric developments and finishes.”
