PINS AND NEEDLES
The New Yorker|March 27, 2023
How Demna engineered the rise— and near-fall—of the house of Balenciaga.
LAUREN COLLINS
PINS AND NEEDLES

A bare white room, smelling of nothing. Nervous coughs going around like the wave. It was eleven-thirty on a Sunday morning in March—the Mass hour, Balenciaga’s traditional slot on the Paris Fashion Week calendar—and editors, buyers, clients, and the odd quidnunc had gathered at the Carrousel du Louvre, a cavernous mall under the museum, to attend the presentation of the house’s Fall 2023 collection. The Business of Fashion was calling it Balenciaga’s “make-or-break” moment; the Times, “the single most fraught show of the season.” The brand was trying to recover from a pair of botched ad campaigns that, in December, had led to a wild farrago of accusations, including that it had sexualized children and condoned child abuse. On each seat sat a white card bearing a message from Demna, the brand’s artistic director. “In the last couple of months, I needed to seek shelter for my love affair with fashion,” he wrote, explaining that he’d found solace in darts and notches, shoulder lines and armholes. He concluded, “This is why fashion to me can no longer be seen as an entertainment, but rather as the art of making clothes.”

Denne historien er fra March 27, 2023-utgaven av The New Yorker.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra March 27, 2023-utgaven av The New Yorker.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE NEW YORKERSe alt
President for Sale - A survey of today's political ads.
The New Yorker

President for Sale - A survey of today's political ads.

On a mid-October Sunday not long ago sun high, wind cool-I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a book festival, and I took a stroll. There were few people on the streets-like the population of a lot of capital cities, Harrisburg's swells on weekdays with lawyers and lobbyists and legislative staffers, and dwindles on the weekends. But, on the façades of small businesses and in the doorways of private homes, I could see evidence of political activity. Across from the sparkling Susquehanna River, there was a row of Democratic lawn signs: Malcolm Kenyatta for auditor general, Bob Casey for U.S. Senate, and, most important, in white letters atop a periwinkle not unlike that of the sky, Kamala Harris for President.

time-read
8 mins  |
November 11, 2024
LIFE ADVICE WITH ANIMAL ANALOGIES
The New Yorker

LIFE ADVICE WITH ANIMAL ANALOGIES

Go with the flow like a dead fish.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 11, 2024
CONNOISSEUR OF CHAOS
The New Yorker

CONNOISSEUR OF CHAOS

The masterly musical as mblages of Charles Ives

time-read
5 mins  |
November 11, 2024
BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS
The New Yorker

BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS

How the Brothers Grimm sought to awaken a nation.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
THE ARTIFICIAL STATE
The New Yorker

THE ARTIFICIAL STATE

A different kind of machine politics.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
THE HONEST ISLAND GREG JACKSON
The New Yorker

THE HONEST ISLAND GREG JACKSON

Craint did not know when he had come to the island or why he had come.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
THE SHIPWRECK DETECTIVE
The New Yorker

THE SHIPWRECK DETECTIVE

Nigel Pickford has spent a lifetime searching for sunken treasure-without leaving dry land.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
THE HOME FRONT
The New Yorker

THE HOME FRONT

Some Americans are preparing for a second civil war.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
SYRIA'S EMPIRE OF SPEED
The New Yorker

SYRIA'S EMPIRE OF SPEED

Bashar al-Assad's regime is now a narco-state reliant on sales of amphetamines.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024
TUCKER EVERLASTING
The New Yorker

TUCKER EVERLASTING

Trump's favorite pundit takes his show on the road.

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 11, 2024