Paris Fashion Week: Kanye West makes runway debut at Balenciaga’s sludge-splattered show
Kanye West, who now goes the name Ye, dons many hats — rapper, songwriter, and fashion designer. But he seems to have added another feather in his cap after making his runway debut for luxury fashion house Balenciaga at Paris Fashion Week on Sunday.
The rapper looked enigmatic, as always, as he sashayed down the muddy ramp in a black hoodie teamed with a bulky military-style jacket with the word ‘security’ written over the left breast, leather trousers, and a baseball cap, over which he pulled the hood. The rapper’s outfit and persona channeled the dystopian aesthetic, that the brand was trying to showcase, down to a T.
Explaining the inspiration behind the sludge-splattered circular runway, Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia explained in the show note that it was “a metaphor for digging for the truth and being down to earth.”
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In his “message for the show”, shared on Instagram, Demna wrote: “I hate boxes and I hate labels and I hate being labelled and put in a box… Fashion loves boxes and labels more than anything. Putting luxury fashion into the box of polished, exclusive and visually expensive is limited and pretty old school. Individualism in fashion is downgraded to pseudo trends dictated a post in stories of some celebrity of the moment.”
“I’ve decided to no longer explain my collections and verbalise my designs, but to express a state of mind,” Demna added. “Fashion is a visual art and all we need is for it to be seen through someone’s eyes,” he further wrote, stressing that fashion does not need to be explained in order to be sold — “you either like it or not.”
“Let us let everyone be anyone and make love not war,” he added.
The invitation to the show was in the form of a beaten-up wallet, bulging with cards, coins, and receipts, according to the Guardian. As expected, it was a star-studded affair both on and off the ramp, with celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Chrine Quinn, Doja Cat, and Alexa Demie in attendance.
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