Demna Gvasalia Shares His Philosophies and Personal Stories on Life, Balenciaga and Vetements

Vogue recently did a feature story on Balenciaga creative director and Vetements designer, Demna Gvasalia. In the editorial, the accomplished 35-year-old shares some details about how he got his start in the business, his day-to-day process, making time for both Balenciaga and Vetements, and having lived as an immigrant in Düsseldorf. Below are some interesting quotables from the article. For the full read, head on over to Vogue.

On splitting time between Balenciaga and Vetements:

“I am here two and a half days, and at Vetements two and a half,” he says firmly. “I’m strict about keeping the weekends free, except at showtime. When we moved here, they asked me if I wanted something special in the office. I was like, ‘Speakers!’ I always have to have music the minute I wake up. It’s part of me. Starting with Serge Gainsbourg in the morning is probably more Balenciaga. It’s louder at Vetements.”

On Cristobal Balenciaga: 

“I wouldn’t say I’m trying to channel Mr. Balenciaga in any way,” Gvasalia begins, almost cringing at the notion. “But I’m trying to understand how he saw women. He really respected and loved them—I see that in the clothes, the way he approached the body. He liked to fit on models who were not perfect. He liked to work with reality, and flatter it. I’m trying to work with that.”

On having a good time with close friends and A-listers:

“It was the craziest weekend ever—we still keep talking about it. In one night we went to four or five clubs. You see some interesting characters there. I take a lot of pictures—in places you are allowed to.”

The difference between Balenciaga and Vetements:

“Vetements is like Parliament,” Gvasalia says, laughing. “Everybody’s very outspoken and not afraid of sharing their opinion in a very brutal way. Here [at Balenciaga] it’s still a work in progress because the womenswear team is not used to this way. But they start to get there.”

On stylist friend Lotta Volkova: 

“Lotta is a walking source of energy,” says Gvasalia, who calls Volkova his “sister from another mister.” “We met at some party four years ago, and then she came over to see the first Vetements collection and told me, ‘I want to wear some of these things, but the styling is terrible.’ So she’s been working with us ever since. I’m lucky enough to have been working here in Paris for seven years, so I knew all these great people I couldn’t pay for before—they kind of waited.”

Retelling how his family fled their native home, Georgia: 

“We left by car, but at a certain point we couldn’t drive farther, so we continued on foot,” Demna says. “We had a couple of Kalashnikovs with us—my mother sold one to buy a horse because my grandmother couldn’t walk. It was scary. When we were picked up by helicopter, I thought it was so fun because there was no room and I had to sit in the back with the luggage. I couldn’t understand why our mother was crying.”