The Year of Balenciaga
The New York Times
From couture to “The Simpsons” and the metaverse, one brand set the style agenda in 2021.
Demna Gvasalia and I meet in the metaverse, in a glassed-in conference room in an unnamed city. Though the buildings suggest Singapore by way of the Jetsons.
“This is kind of trippy,” said the avatar otherwise known as the creative director of Balenciaga, upon materializing in the room. “What do I have on? What kind of jacket? I bet it’s not oversized.”
He was wearing a black warm-up jacket and black T-shirt, with a silver chain around his neck, gold hoops in both ears, a black baseball cap and a five o’clock shadow. He looked, in other words, a lot like the real-life designer, who usually wears all black, a baseball cap and hoops — though the hoodie was perhaps not as voluminous as he may have liked, and his skin had the ageless perfection of a cartoon, though he is 40.
