THE SHAPE OF THINGS

With one of his most compelling Balenciaga collections yet, Demna refines and expands the meaning of the modern wardrobe

For the first-ever Balenciaga show he took on the road, Demna headed to New York City—the land where American Dreams are made. But of course, in classic Demna fashion, what transpired was also tinged with a whiff of American Horror Story. At the historic New York Stock Exchange—that high temple of consumerism and capitalism; home of finance bros and Wall Street wolves and other corporate types—the designer set off an explosion of high fashion and subversion with a collection that twisted the very tropes of those aforementioned archetypes.