I don’t want to bore you with talking about the winner for the best season trend – Balenciaga’s “pants-shoes”. The spandex boot-pants that Demna Gvasalia created for the Balenciaga SS17 collection was on every pair of hot legs at the MET GALA. The £1,795 boot/ trouser hybrid from has assured Balenciaga the first place on the podium of the most powerful brands of the moment.
But hey, If you think that the idea of this violent boots was exclusive of the immensely talented Demna Gvasalia I’m sorry, but I have to disappoint you. The link between the thigh-high boots – shoe was adopted by women way back in the Sixties thanks to the prodigies Yves Saint Laurent and Roger Vivier. The pants/shoes was Beth Levine’s creation, again in the 60s when she experimented the union of nylon collant and leather or plastic shoes to create a one-piece garment. In 1967 David Evins designed for Oscar de la Renta some very high leather boots that looked like pants. Most recently, in 2013 Tamara Mellon, former Jimmy Choo’s Creative Director, designed a pair of soft leather legging-boots.
But this history does not pale Demna Gvasalia’s brilliance. His vibe of couture and trash and that grotesque touch and kind of surreal detailing charms us all. I am not a fan of Pantashoes. I in am in awe of this Balenciaga STOVE-PIPE HOUNDSTOOTH TROUSERS tailored to perfection. And that KNIFE-SLIT enhances your height by few inches.