THE COMEBACK KIDS

Fashion, like much of the rest of the world, is entering a period of re-emergence. This season marks a splashy return for some of fashion’s biggest personalities and most bold-faced names after their hitting pause in some way or another. The reasons for their breaks vary—some were pandemic-related, like Marc Jacobs’s retreat from the runway; others were due to sudden deaths, like at the House of Alaïa. For a brand such as Balenciaga, its return to the couture calendar was a strategic move of timing and vision; while at Jean Paul Gaultier, it was about exploring new frontiers through a new collaboration model.

BALENCIAGA

It was 53 years ago that Cristóbal Balenciaga closed the doors to his haute couture salon for good. The couturier that Christian Dior called “the master of us all” was more a sculptor whose medium was fabric, innovating new textiles and shapes that are used even to this day. In fact, so much of what we think of when it comes to mid-century couture can be traced back to Balenciaga. His house laid dormant until it was snapped up by the conglomerate known today as Kering and Nicolas Ghesquière brought it back into mainstream consciousness with a commercially successful 15-year run. For the past six years, it has been under the stewardship of Demna Gvasalia, who turned it into