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      Balenciaga opens tinted-glass couture store beneath historic Paris atelier

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      Fashion house Balenciaga has opened a couture store with smoked-glass-panelled walls in the same building as its original couture salon in Paris.

      The store is located beneath Balenciaga’s historic atelier at 10 Avenue George V, which was recently renovated to exactly replicate the interior of the original couture salon that was first opened in 1937.
      The interior of the store was clad in tinted glass”The newly renovated space at 10 Avenue George V is dedicated to preserving Balenciaga’s heritage in its original couture location, first opened in 1937, as well as creating a couture for today,” said the brand.
      The design of the store beneath the couture salon was created by long-time Balenciaga collaborator Sub, a Berlin-based architecture studio that was founded by Niklas Bildstein Zaar and Andrea Faraguna.
      The store is located in the same building as Balenciaga’s original couture salonThe boutique’s exterior is marked by oversized serif Balenciaga signage, a nod to Balenciaga’s 20th-century branding that also forms a distinction from the narrow, sans serif typeface that currently identifies the brand.

      Beneath the signage, four arched openings frame swooping curtains that are given a golden hue by the brown-tinted glazing.
      Grey curtains zone spaces throughout the storeThe interior of the couture store echoes Balenciaga’s raw architecture concept, which was applied internationally across the interior of its stores, but this edition has been clad in panels of tinted glass instead of concrete.
      Between the unfinished but glass-clad walls, ash-hued curtains conceal carpeted areas while wrinkled-leather ottomans were placed throughout the two-storey store.

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      Wrought iron balustrades and a curving marble staircase, with glass panelling slotted around it, hint at the building’s history and the former decor and interior scheme of the atelier above.
      “The concept of the couture store is a gateway to couture, which remains a very closed universe, especially for new generations,” said Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit.
      Remnants of the store’s history were incorporated into the design”In this new store, products, made-to-measure services and retail excellence are a reinvention of the Balenciaga client experience,” said Charbit.
      “It is exciting to be able to present this level of craft, creativity and made-in-France savoir-faire in our historical address.”
      Balenciaga’s couture atelier is located above the storeMetal shelving was decorated with couture items, ranging from artisanal to technological, from the brand’s most recent Autumn Winter 2022 couture show.
      Items on display include its speaker bag, which was created in collaboration with Danish audio brand, Bang & Olufsen.
      Earlier in 2022, Balenciaga wrapped its Mount Street store in London in a bright pink faux fur to celebrate its Le Cagole bag.
      Photography is courtesy of Balenciaga.

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      Jacquemus creates surrealist interpretation of his own bathroom for Selfridges pop-up

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      French fashion designer Simon Jacquemus has opened a series of surrealist pop-up installations at London department store Selfridges, including a luxury-bag vending machine and a swimming-pool changing room.

      Titled Le Bleu, the installation occupies a number of locations across the store, including its creative retail space The Corner Shop and the Old Selfridges Hotel, a former hotel space that is now being used as a pop-up venue.
      The pop-up installations are located in and around Selfridges on Oxford StreetThe Corner Shop, which functions as the installation’s main retail space, features pale blue tiles blanketed across its interior. In its window, a large transparent tube of toothpaste spills ribbons of red and white gel.
      An oversized bathtub, sponges, shower facilities and sinks were also installed in the space, where they function as display areas for a selection of exclusive Jacquemus products and pieces from the brand’s Spring Summer 2022 collection.
      An oversized glass with a fizzing tablet is among the designsThe pop-up spaces were designed as a “surrealist reimagining of Jacquemus founder Simon Jacquemus’ very own bathroom,” Selfridges said.

      “I wanted to create crazy and unrealistic installations, all related to water and bathroom imagery,” said Jacquemus, founder of the eponymous brand.
      The designer was inspired to create one of the installations, an oversized glass, after seeing a tablet fizzing in a glass of water.
      “I also love how the giant tablet glass would also be very ‘eye calming’, a kind of visual ASMR installation in the middle of the Corner Shop,” he said.
      A 24-hour vending titled 24/24 is located behind the storeOn Edwards Mews behind Selfridges, a life-sized vending machine stocked with exclusive editions of the brand’s Chiquito and Bambino bags can be accessed for shopping 24 hours a day.
      A large circular opening marks the entrance to the space, a square room lined with five-by-five rows of bags and accessories displayed in oversized, deep blue-hued vending machines.
      Le Bleu includes three installationsAt the Old Selfridges Hotel, the final pop-up – a sensory installation titled Le Vestiaire – references swimming-pool changing rooms.
      Visitors are greeted by the now-familiar blue tiles, which cover the walls, floor and furniture of the space.

      Balenciaga wraps London store in pink faux fur to celebrate its Le Cagole “it-bag”

      A curved welcome desk was positioned in front of a tile-clad wall that holds a collection of rolled-up towels.
      Blue lockers and changing cubicles line the walls at the rear of the space and include “3D experiences” that draw on the iconography of surrealist French filmmaker Jacques Tati.
      It follows a number of installations that have taken place across Europe’s fashion capitals”Each experience is very different and playful, but my favourite would be Le Vestiaire, as it’s the first time we have invested in a space like this, with 3D experiences and crazy installations with our Jacquemus products,” said Jacquemus.
      “I wanted to recreate an accumulation of lockers with different 3D experiences inside, inspired by Jacques Tati movies.”
      Smaller installations were incorporated within the interior of lockers and behind cubicle doorsThe three pop-up installations are open from 3 May until 4 June 2022.
      The installation is the latest edition of a series of Jacquemus’ vending machine pop-ups located across Europe’s fashion capitals, including Milan and Paris.
      It was inspired by Jacques Tati filmsIn 2019, Jacquemus designed a Parisian restaurant named Oursin that featured whitewashed walls, colourful ceramics and rattan furnishings in an effort to “perpetuate summer”.
      French fashion brand Balenciaga recently transformed its Mount Street store into a temporary faux fur lined pop-up dedicated to its Le Cagole line.
      Images are courtesy of Selfridges.

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      Balenciaga wraps London store in pink faux fur to celebrate its Le Cagole “it-bag”

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      Fashion brand Balenciaga has transformed its Mount Street store in London, creating a maximalist look to launch its Le Cagole collection by blanketing the interior in bright pink faux fur.

      To celebrate its popular Le Cagole bag, which references Balenciaga’s maximalist It Bags of the past, and launch the line’s collection of accessories and shoes, the entire interior of the store has been covered in fur.
      Balenciaga’s Mount Street store was lined in faux furThe brand removed its accessories, ready-to-wear collections and permanent shelving from the store and installed temporary, metal fixtures – taken from the brand’s previous projects and installations – throughout.
      Balenciaga wrapped these temporary fixtures and displays in a fluffy, bright pink faux fur chosen for its maximalist look to tie with the Le Cagole bag identity.
      Pink faux fur was used across the walls, floors and surfaces”The line, which now includes multiple bags, wallet, and shoe styles, reinvents Balenciaga codes in the tradition of maximalist It Bags of another era,” said Balenciaga.

      “Le Cagole pop-ups are in keeping with this spirit, covered entirely with bright pink fake fur. Shelves, displays, floors, seating, and even racks in the open-plan kiosks are lined in pink.”
      Le Cagole bags were placed across the fur-lined temporary displaysThe Le Cagole, which Vogue has dubbed the “new it-bag”, was designed by Balenciaga’s creative director Demna, who reinvented one of the house’s most iconic bags – the Balenciaga Motorcycle bag.
      First released in 2001 by Nicholas Ghesquiere, who led a 15-year tenure as creative director at the house from 1997 to 2012, the Motorcycle bag quickly became a staple of the 2000s.

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      Demna’s Le Cagole collection, which was first launched as a collection of handbags, has now extended into a number of different bags, shoes and purses. It takes its name from French slang that refers to an “over-the-top attitude”.
      The pieces employ the same detailing, hardware and rivets as Ghesquiere’s 2001 Motorcycle bag, which have been applied across a number of accessories including knee-high stiletto boots, mini-purses and oversized rhinestone-embellished handbags.
      The fur-lined Le Cagole pop-up is open at Balenciaga’s Mount Street store in London from April through until June 2022.
      The pop-up offers limited edition bagsBalenciaga told Dezeen that the metal fixtures and displays would be reused for future projects, and it is looking into ways in which the fur can be repurposed and reused in different contexts.
      “Each Le Cagole pop-up fixture base was made of reused metal from previous projects. After the faux fur is removed, the metal will be reused again for future projects,” it said.
      “We are currently researching the best way in which we can donate the faux fur so that it can be reused in manufacturing toys, for example.”
      The pop-up is open until JuneFor the fashion brand’s Autumn Winter 2022 collection, the house created a “snow globe” where models walked the runway in a blizzard as a comment on both the climate crisis and the Ukraine war.
      In late 2021, Balenciaga renovated its flagship store in London and debuted its “raw architecture” store aesthetic.
      Photos are courtesy of Balenciaga.

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      Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems opens at the Design Museum

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      An exhibition highlighting London-based designer Bethany Williams’ waste-combating, social-driven vision for the fashion industry has opened at the Design Museum.

      Exhibited in the atrium of London’s Design Museum, Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems is a celebration of Williams’ work which explores and responds to social issues through the use of community-led enrichment initiatives.
      Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems is a free display in the atrium of the Design MuseumA number of key works by the designer were exhibited across the four walls of the atrium’s balcony gallery, which is free to entry.
      Mannequins are displayed among textiles samples, photography and raw waste materials in efforts to highlight the studio’s commitment to sustainable fashion.
      The display was chosen to be shown in a free entry space in the museum”I decided to organise the display thematically rather than by collection,” said Design Museum’s head of curatorial and interpretation Priya Khanchandani.

      “It opens with a section about the studio specifically and then there’s a part about creative process, intellectual references and the way in which they propose alternative infrastructures of working, followed by a section about reuse and another about community collaborations,” she told Dezeen.
      “Bethany’s work not only tackles the question of the environmental impact of design, but it also has an amazing social purpose.”
      The exhibition design was completed by EditWilliams is a fashion designer, humanitarian and artist. She graduated from Brighton University with a degree in Critical Fine Art before receiving a master’s from the London College of Fashion in Menswear.
      She launched her namesake brand in 2017 and has strived to spotlight and respond to social and environmental issues, her works see her partnering with local grassroots programs and manufacturing collections using waste materials.
      Garments are exhibited alongside research, drawings and materialsA section of the display exhibits Willliams’ work as part of the Emergency Designer Network. The initiative is a collaboration between herself and designers Phoebe English, Cozette McCreery and Holly Fulton.
      The group of creatives, with their textile manufacturing knowledge and teams of volunteers, produced 12,000 scrubs, 100,000 masks and 4,000 gowns for frontline healthcare workers during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

      Waste crisis a “design-made mess” says Design Museum show curator

      Waste from packaging tape sourced from Rimini, Italy was handwoven and constructed into functional items and garments as part of Williams’s Autumn Winter 2018 collection, which was on display.
      “I felt it was very important to show not just the finished garments, which you would see in a retail fashion context; being a museum display I wanted to add other layers of information,” explained Khanchandani.
      Williams’ work merges streetwear and craft”There are process materials like drawings and sketches, and also source material,” said Khanchandani. “For instance, a jacket made of waste newspaper is shown alongside some of the waste material, the Liverpool Echo, which is dangling next to the garment.”
      “You’re able to see the journey of the objects from inception, to finished product.”
      Williams has collaborated with San Patrignano, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmeEach season, the fashion studio collaborates with different local charities and grassroots programs and donates a percentage of its profits to its causes.
      “With our work, we hope to continue to reach new audiences, encourage inclusivity and positive change for the fashion industry,” said Williams. “The Design Museum continues to be aligned with this via the exhibitions curated, including their Waste Age exhibition, which we featured in last year.”
      “We are so proud to showcase our new exhibition: Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems, a celebration of the new way of working proposed for the fashion industry by the studio’s work.”
      Dresses and corsetry feature boning constructed from waste materialsThe opening of Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems was timed to coincide with Williams’ Autumn Winter 2022 collection, titled The Hands that Heal Us, which was presented at the museum.
      The collection included a cactus leather jacket, and garments made from recycled and organic-based denim with detachable metal hardware that aid the recycling process at the end of its life.
      A skeleton suit was informed by a 19th-century children’s playsuitIn 2016, Williams graduated from London College of Fashion and showed her MA graduate collection in the university’s show as part of London Fashion Week.
      Last year’s Waste Age exhibition at the Design Museum, which featured Williams’ work, explored how design has contributed to the increasing throwaway culture and how people can create an alternative circular economy that doesn’t exploit the planet.
      Photography is by Felix Speller.
      Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems is on display at the Design Museum from 22 February 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      V&A curator picks five highlights from Bags: Inside Out exhibition

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      The 19th-century equivalent of an activist’s slogan tote and a portmanteau made from repurposed fire hoses feature in this roundup of V&A curator Lucia Savi’s favourite pieces from the Bags: Inside Out exhibition.On show at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum until September of next year, the exhibition traces the evolution of bags from the 16th century to the present day.
      Over three distinct sections and nearly 300 exhibits, it explores the different functions that these carriers can serve, the ways they can communicate status and identity as well as the craftsmanship that goes into their making.
      Along the way, designs by luxury fashion houses rub shoulders with personal items belonging to historical figures such as Winston Churchill and artefacts sourced everywhere from Pakistan to Burma.

      “If you think about it, bags are everywhere. Men, women, children – everybody wears them and uses them on an everyday basis,” Savi told Dezeen.
      “We can’t even pinpoint when the first bag in history was made or used because it’s such a functional object that was useful for so many reasons – to travel from A to B, to transport personal belongings.”
      “But they can also be status symbols and carry meaning or memories. In the fashion business today, bags are often the biggest revenue drivers,” she continued. “The exhibition sets out to investigate what makes this object so special, so coveted and so multi-layered.”
      According to Savi, a key factor in this is the fact that bags allow their wearer to present themselves to the world while simultaneously revealing who they really are on the inside.

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      “I think this is at the core of what bags are – they’re functional, they have meaning but they’re very private. We carry our most personal belongings in our bags and not everybody wants to open theirs and show off the contents,” she said.
      “At the same time, we carry them physically on the body, we’re commuting, were travelling. So there are these dichotomies between inside and outside, private and public.”
      This is evidenced by the millions of view racked up by “What’s in my bag” videos on YouTube and translated into the design of the exhibition itself, which is courtesy of London architecture practice Studio Mutt.

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      The ground floor of the V&A’s Gallery 40 is transformed to resemble the inside of a bag, with fabric partitions acting like the lining and dividing the space into small, intimate “pockets”. Here, the exhibits are displayed largely on their own, cracked open to reveal their vulnerable insides, while on the upstairs mezzanine the bags are showcased on mannequins, to suggest their public, outward-facing role.
      Bags: Inside Out opened its door earlier this month after being delayed twice due to coronavirus lockdowns and only a few days before Tier 3 restrictions were once again imposed on London.
      As a result, the museum is currently closed, so we have enlisted Savi to share her personal highlights from the show below:

      Jane Birkin’s Birkin bag by Hermès, 1984
      “This is the very first Birkin bag that was ever made. The story goes that Jane Birkin was on a plane from Paris to London in the 80s and was complaining to the man next to her that she couldn’t find a leather bag she liked. It turns out she was talking to the CEO of Hermès, so they start drawing some ideas on one of those paper [sickness] bags.
      “Now, the Birkin is the most recognised and coveted handbag of our time. It’s not easy to get hold of one, because of the price but also because you can’t just walk into a shop and buy one. They fetch crazy prices at auctions and a report found that the value of a Birkin is actually more stable and better-performing than gold.
      “The primary function of a bag throughout history was to carry valuables and in this case, the bag became a valuable object in itself. This is, of course, because of the craftsmanship and the quality – it takes many hours for a Birkin to be made and it’s all done by one artisan. But it’s also because of the exclusivity and the celebrity association, which together created the phenomenon of ‘it-bags’.”

      Anti-slavery workbag by Samuel Lines and the Female Society for Birmingham, 1828
      “This bag was made by women from the Female Society for Birmingham as part of their campaign to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Printed on the bag is a powerful image of an enslaved woman who is breastfeeding while a man is telling her to go back to work.
      “This piece was showcased very much on the body, for everybody to see what these women were advocating for. It was used to carry pamphlets and campaign materials, which they sold alongside the bags to raise money. But also, because it’s a work bag, it was used to carry tools and little items that were used for sewing, so there’s really a double function there.
      “What’s interesting about this bag is that we just have the silk part but we don’t have the metal frame and the handles. So it really shows you how these bags were made by this group of women. Not many of them have survived but they exemplify an important function of bags, both historically and today, as a way of showcasing our beliefs.”

      Daln by Kazuyo Sejima for Prada, 2019
      “Bags offer fertile soil for experimenting with new ideas and for collaborations between designers, artists and more recently architects. They’re quite sculptural objects with a large surface area, so they’re almost like a blank canvas.
      “This collaboration is part of a collection called Prada Invites, where the brand recruited four female architects to reinvent its iconic nylon bag. Prada is a historic fashion house that started in 1913 as a leather luggage maker. But when Miuccia Prada took the helm of the company in the 80s, she introduced this very new material that you normally wouldn’t associate with luxury and redefined it.”
      “Kazuyo Sejima’s interpretation of the bag really gives the freedom to the wearer to reinvent the bag every time – you can un-zip some parts, make it longer or shorter. And you can add all these colourful, detachable pouches and pockets with soft shapes that contrast with the black, square body of the bag.”

      Weekend bag by Elvis and Kresse, 2019
      “More and more, we’re seeing brands try to work with materials that are not exploiting the natural world and not creating too much waste. But this brand, Elvis and Kresse, has been doing it for years and decades.
      “They saw that fire hoses, once they reached the end of their life, were just ending up in landfill. So they started to produce accessories out of them, using the material almost as if it was leather and fabricating the bags using similar machinery.
      “First, the hose gets washed and then it’s cut in half. It has two surfaces, a smooth and a dimpled one, and they combine these to create the designs. The lining is made out of parachute silk or old auction banners and everything from the packaging to the labels is made from rescued materials.”

      Iside Toothpaste bag by Bethan Laura Wood for Valextra, 2018
      “Normally, Valextra’s bags are quite severe. They’re very simple, very structured bags, but with the intervention of British designer Bethan Laura Wood on the handles and the addition of this sinuous, toothpaste-like hardware, the bag almost becomes a completely different object.
      “She was inspired by the linework of [Scottish artist] Eduardo Paolozzi and the piping along the side of the Valextra bag, where the leathers is inked to finish the seams. And I really enjoyed the idea of playing with that line and the fact that she intervenes on the hardware but not on the leather, which is a very interesting way of thinking about bags.
      “Working with a designer who normally maybe doesn’t work on leather or hardware and has never worked on bags, I think it does bring a completely different perspective. It challenges the makers and it creates almost like wearable pieces of art.”
      Bags: Inside Out is on show at the V&A in London until 12 September 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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