Vetements Fall Winter 2024-2025 “Meeting in the Neutral Zone or The Weird Mixer-Upper“. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Vetements. Video Courtesy: JC de Castelbajac, Marcia Cross.

Last night, the fashion universe tilted on its axis, presenting a spectacle so bewildering that if fashion weeks had a “Stranger Things” season, this would be it. Welcome to Vetements Fall Winter 2024-2025, or as I’d like to call it, “Meeting in the Neutral Zone or The Weird Mixer-Upper.”

Weird Notice #1: The Gathering of the Fashion Factions

Let me draw you the players. Vetements it’s a brand which belongs to Demna and Guram Gvasalia. Demna Gvasalia is a “creative” director of Balenciaga brand, which belongs to Kering luxury group. Brand Vetements is a brand on its own, or so as it seems, it belongs to Vetements Group AG based in Zurich, Switzerland. There are the rumors that Kering and Kayne West are the primary investors in this Vetments Group AG. 

In an unprecedented move, Vetements, under the Gvasalia brothers’ enigmatic umbrella, drew a line in the sand—or rather, erased one. Picture this: Natalia Vodianova, a vision in complexity, opening the show, not just as a model but as a symbol of the unexpected bridge between fashion’s Montagues and Capulets: LVMH and Kering. Her husband, Antoine Arnault, of LVMH royalty, graced the front row, sparking whispers of a clandestine peace treaty or perhaps just enjoying the sartorial circus.

Antoine Arnault is a son of Bernard Arnault, founder of LVMH group (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Loewe and many others brands belong to this group). There’s always been “competition” between LVMH and Kering, which started decades ago and continues until today. This competition was not a friendly one, it looked most of the time as a war for the place “who is the richest of them all”. On the front row yesterday we saw Antoine Arnault watching the show. Was it a mismatch or some sort of meeting in the neutral zone between Kering and LVMH? I wonder…

The front row was a who’s who of “Did they really just sit next to each other?” Featuring the likes of Cher, there to cheer on Alexander Edwards, and a cast that ranged from Tyga to Julia Fox, and even Tommy Cash, who apparently mistook the event for a pool party, donning a giant inflatable lifesaver ring. If fashion had a Mad Hatter’s tea party, this was it, minus the tea but full of intrigue.

If I’d be Alice in Wonderland, I’d say “Curiouser and curiouser!”

Weird Notice #2: The Balenciaga Crossover Episode

In a twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan blink, most of the models hailed from Balenciaga’s roster. The stylist, Lotta Volkova, known for her edgy (to put it mildly) aesthetic, brought a sense of déjà vu to the runway, blurring the lines between the two fashion powerhouses.

The stylist of the show is famous Lotta Volkova, who worked for decades with Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga and famous for her satanic posts and BDSM kids abusive campaign just a year ago (November 2022). It can’t get weirder than that. 

The Collection: A Surrealist’s Dream Closet

The show boasted 90 looks, each outdoing the last in a game of “How oversized can we go?” Gvasalia, ever the pioneer, took “go big or go home” quite literally, with some pieces so voluminous that they seemed to defy physics. Vodianova and Edwards’s suits screamed innovation, with padded tubes that made shoulders and silhouettes reach for the heavens. T-shirts and hoodies weren’t spared, adorned with what could only be described as the love child of a hula hoop and pool floaties.

Jeans with trains? Check (I actually liked these – they looked like denim ball gowns with pockets). They had some sort of elegance. Dress hems that required a team of handlers? Double check. And evening dresses so bedazzled, they likely left Swarovski’s inventory in a state of emergency.

Key Looks: A Study in Extravagance

The teddy bear coats, a collaboration with Jean Charles de Castelbajac and Steiff, were a cuddly highlight, blending nostalgia with avant-garde flair. “Amazing experience to do this collaboration with Guram Gvasalia, reinterpreting my iconic Teddy bear coat with Vetements codes, elaborated with the legendary Steiff”, – said Jean Charles de Castelbajac about this collaboration.

Blue jeans reimagined as ball gowns—because who doesn’t want to twirl in denim?

T-shirts and hoodies with slogans that ranged from the self-deprecating “Not Mom’s Favorite” to the South Park-inspired “you’re a towel,” serving as tongue-in-cheek commentary on fashion’s ephemeral obsessions.

There was also “I’m retired (This is as dressed up as I get)” robe what looked like monk’s daily wear, and “we buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like” sweet.

For the grand finale, Marcia Cross of “Desperate Housewives” fame emerged in a crystal jersey dress, proving that Vetements is not just about fashion—it’s about making statements, whether you understand them or not.

The Weird Mixer-Upper

In a world where fashion often takes itself too seriously, Vetements’ Fall Winter 2024-2025 collection served as a reminder that fashion is, at its heart, about expression and… occasionally, a giant inflatable lifesaver ring. As we ponder the implications of this neutral zone meeting, one thing is clear: in fashion, expect the unexpected, and never underestimate the power of a well-placed pool accessory.

See All Looks Vetements Fall Winter 2024-2025