Balenciaga
Paris Spring 2009

(PARIS) In France, an ingenieur is one of the most lauded and respectable professions. Every season, but especially this one, Nicolas Ghesquière brings those skills to Balenciaga with shock and awe, developing new fabrics and treating a collection as, above all, a construction. We could talk of palette, but these colors change at every angle, morphing from silver to ice blue to shady rose... and then back again. Everything from iridescent pleated silk jackets to even men's suits afforded one's perception the ultimate authority. A series of pants appeared to be stuck together with extra-large pieces of Scotch tape, but the angular vests and slinky leotards that topped them were extra thoughtful: point, counterpoint. Finally, a breathtaking lineup of jeweled evening gowns, most endowed with a ruffle or three, proved that even tech geeks have a femme side. But although one remains agog over Ghesquière's technique, these aren't clothes for a Sunday afternoon--or even a Saturday night. Once again, Ghesquière has blazed a trail, but one can't help but miss all those little black dresses.