#ThrowbackSunday – spring / summer 1998

The debut collection of Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga. When the yet unknown designer came to Cristobal Balenciaga’s dusty and forgotten brand, it sold funeral clothing to Japanese licences. So, after the failure of the former creative director, Josephus Thimister, Nicolas had a field to show-off his talent. For the first collection in 1998, Ghesquiere decided to keep it mostly black, concentrating on the variety of silhouettes and sharp tailoring. Even though the collection felt very modest at the first sight, it was just a teaser of Nicolas’ prosperous and bold 15 years at Balenciaga.

Let this mourning parade of black-only looks be a quiet nod to Friday’s horryfying events that took place in Paris.