If you thought the riff on Bernie Sanders’s campaign logo in the Balenciaga Fall 2017 menswear collectsion would be the beginning and end of the Senator’s influence on fashion, well, think again. Today‘s Balenciaga womenswear show in Paris featured a pair of subtle homages to the politician. Two pairs of pumps in the collectsion were made with leftover logo T-shirts from the menswear show, with Balenciaga written up the side of the shoes in the same style as Sanders’s campaign posters.
As with the menswear show, which focused on corporate cultures, the existence of a Bernie nod amidst a haute womenswear collectsion of couture silhouettes is somewhat strange. Paris Fashion Week is probably the last place you’d expect to find the Vermont democratic socialist. But Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia loves to take the expected and turn it on its head.
Earlier this year when Sanders was informed by CNN’s Jake Tapper of Balenciaga’s initial homage, he replied, “Of my many attributes, being a great dresser or a fashion maven is not one of them.” Au contraire! Two references in the Paris collectsions puts you on track to influencer status, Senator.
