Demna Gvasalia: The Balenciaga Designer Who Embraces Ugliness

Demna Gvasalia, the Georgian designer behind Balenciaga and Vêtements, has disrupted fashion's polished aesthetic by drawing from the raw, unglamorous world of the street. After winning two Fashion Awards—International Urban Luxury Brand for Vêtements and International Ready to Wear Designer for Balenciaga—Gvasalia continues to challenge norms. Growing up in Soviet Georgia, where uniformity was enforced and consumer goods were scarce, he developed a fascination with fashion. Following the civil war, he moved to Germany and studied at Antwerp's state fashion school. After three years at Margiela and a stint at Louis Vuitton, he co-founded Vêtements with friends Lotta Volkova (styling) and his brother Gouran (CEO). The brand debuted as an outsider in Paris Fashion Week, showing at Le Dépôt gay club and a nondescript Chinese restaurant. Vêtements famously reissued a DHL T-shirt, turning it into a coveted item. Gvasalia's oversized, deliberately ugly designs led to his 2016 appointment as creative director of Balenciaga. His radical independence and rejection of avant-garde sophistication have made him a phenomenon.