01PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI CLOSED HIS BALENCIAGA COUTURE DEBUT ON 8
JULY WITH A STRAPLESS GOWN BUILT FROM 24,150 SHREDDED PETALS
OF SILK GAZAR. THE FABRIC WAS NOT A NEUTRAL CHOICE. CRISTOBAL
BALENCIAGA HIMSELF HELPED INVENT IT.
02GAZAR IS A SILK WOVEN FROM HIGH-TWIST DOUBLE YARNS PULLED
TIGHT AND WORKED AS A SINGLE THREAD. IT IS LIGHT, CRISP AND
STIFF, WITH WHAT CURATORS CALL A CLAYLIKE HAND. IT HOLDS A
SHAPE ON ITS OWN, WITH NOTHING UNDERNEATH.
03THAT STIFFNESS IS THE WHOLE POINT. GAZAR LETS A CUT STAND OUT
IN MID-AIR WITH NO BONING, PADDING OR WIRE UNDERNEATH. THE
VOLUME COMES FROM THE CLOTH ITSELF, NOT FROM SCAFFOLDING
HIDDEN INSIDE THE DRESS. THE ENGINEERING IS THE FABRIC.
04BALENCIAGA COULD NOT BUY WHAT HE WANTED, SO HE HAD IT MADE.
IN 1958 GUSTAV ZUMSTEG OF THE SWISS MILL ABRAHAM DEVELOPED
GAZAR WITH HIM, REPORTEDLY AFTER SEEING A ROLL OF COTTON
GAUZE. BALENCIAGA WORKED IN IT THROUGH 1968.
05HIS TRAPEZOID WEDDING GOWNS OF 1967 AND 1968, NEAR-ABSTRACT
CONES OF GAZAR, ARE AMONG COUTURE'S MOST COPIED SILHOUETTES.
PICCIOLI CHOOSING THE FOUNDER'S OWN SILK FOR THE FINALE OF HIS
FIRST SHOW IS A SIGNATURE, NOT A COINCIDENCE.
06COUTURE ARGUES IN MATERIALS, NOT SLOGANS. REVIVING THE
FOUNDER'S INVENTED CLOTH, THEN SHREDDING IT INTO 24,150 PETALS,
IS PICCIOLI SAYING HE HAS READ THE ARCHIVE AND MEANS TO ADD TO
IT. THE FABRIC CARRIES THE WHOLE MESSAGE.