Welcome to 25 days of fashion! A new series to let you discover more about fashion during the Christmas holidays! Running from Dec 1st to the 25th we will publish a new article everyday with curiosities about the fashion industry, career tips, the history of fashion designers and more but also gifts for you! Stay tuned and make sure you visit glamobserver.com everyday to read the latest articles and know how to win your fashion gifts! You can even subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly recaps and not miss any news plus gifts!
Welcome to Day 16: Who is Demna Gvasalia? Discovering Designers Careers
Demna Gvasalia is a Georgian designer, dominating the fashion world, the innovative individual is well known for his creation of streetwear savvy brand; Vetements and solidifying his status in the industry when rightly being appointed the creative director of Balenciaga. His visionary ideas for luxury streetwear and his exceptional understanding of internet culture are what sets him apart from other designers.
Gvasalia was actually born in Soviet Georgia, where he grew up observing a unified society of everyone wearing the same, his family then moved to Dusseldorf to avoid the war, it was in this brief period of his life he figured out exactly what he wanted to do. The gifted designer (who originally wanted to study economics) graduated from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts with a masters in fashion design.He began his career at Maison Martin Margiela constructing garments, learning an unusual skill of designing in two dimensions. As he found his way through the fashion industry he then landed his next job on the womenswear design team at Louis Vuitton working directly under Marc Jacobs at the time. After learning valuable techniques and being mentored by other exceptional creatives, he took on his own creative path.
Demna took on his own couture take of streetwear staples, bringing a new wave to the Parisian scene. The brand began with his close friends and brother, keeping a personal focus they produced ground breaking collections, challenging the concept of fashion in Paris. They had a clear vision of turning everyday ordinary garments into bold fashion statements, after only three seasons the modern brand was nominated for LMVH’s Young Fashion Designer Prize as Vetements quickly caught the eyes of industry insiders. They made headlines with their unexpected locations for shows and whimsical collabs, from multi story car parks to DHL partnerships, they have made their mark since launching onto the fashion scene in 2014. The key to their success is their personal touch and focus as they elevate everyday streetwear, Gvasalia retained his role as head designer at Vetements where he made his name until 2019.
Within Gvasalia’s first year at Vetements he attracted the attention of prestigious fashion house Balenciaga when he was asked to take over as artistic director, his reputation in the fashion industry was cemented as he took on his first director role at a distinguished house. Gvasalia’s first collection debuted early 2016 and just one year later it was announced he would receive a CFDA’s International Award for his work. His appointment to take helm at Balenciaga was well received by the industry and sent the house’s figures soaring in just two years. Gvasalia brought mundane garments and unconventional campaigns to the honourable luxury brand, as a rare designer who can casually disturb and unsettle the fashion industry, he is leading Balenciaga down a unique, individual path. Conducting many memorable collaborations and moments in fashion from his Met Gala look with Kim Kardashian that caught immediate attention of the press and internet culture to the infamous triple soled sneakers that changed the chunky trainer forever. His most recent collaboration left the industry speechless, as a crowd of industry insiders seated at fashion week awaited the Balenciaga catwalk, were instead entertained with a special 10 minute episode of the iconic Simpsons programme showing the people of Springfield walking the Paris runway. Rightly so, fans of the fashion house could not stop talking about the unexpected collab.
We can’t wait to see what the designer brings next to the industry, as the man who put DHL on the runway, we’re sure we will be surprised. Let us know what you think is coming next on our Instagram.
