Enlarge image
KanyeWest
Photo:
picture alliance / Photoshot
Fall is the time of year to envy little kids who can jump through puddles in full rubber gear.
They don't even try to walk around, but are deliberately allowed, yes, should.
And are suitably equipped for it.
Where are the mud pants for adults anyway?
Maybe that was the thought behind the fashion show by the label Balenciaga, which has been popular for years, on Sunday in Paris.
But probably not.
It is not known exactly what designer Demna Gvasalia had in mind for the seemingly apocalyptic setting for his next spring collection, and perhaps not that important either.
Such a fashion show is not primarily about the demonstration of high-selling fashion, but about a total work of art.
So it's about associations, which in turn are supposed to require interpretations in order to generate narrative added value.
Last but not least, it worked so well this time because one of the biggest pop stars of our – or at least our recent – days dared to walk the, shall we say, catwalk unannounced.
Kanye West, who now prefers to be called Ye, trudged through the mud, barely recognizable.
He was wearing a heavy black jacket with the inscription "Security" on it, and it was said that even the invited guests needed a moment to realize who they were dealing with.
15 minutes followed, in which the models walked through the Balenciaga dystopia, accompanied by sometimes lashing, sometimes darkly rumbling techno.
The mud was specially made by Spanish concept artist Santiago Sierra.
Sierra is known for its large and sometimes provocative installations.
Once he had a room at the Hanoverian Kestner Society filled with 120 tons of mud.
The fact that Kanye West is now walking over the action art silt in Balenciaga does not have to be interpreted as a sell-off to capital.
Ye, who has catapulted pop to new heights in recent years but has also attracted public attention for his disturbing madness, has become far too much of a work of art himself for that.
Balenciaga's unconditional will to position itself apart from the other luxury houses as an avant-garde label is definitely remarkable.
And of course Demna Gvasalia is in the right mood.
Times are dark.
War.
Economic crisis.
Organizing a spring collection in the mud of all things wants to show that we don't look the other way.
We know that everything is pretty hopeless.
And of course even this show - despite terror techno, despite scenes that make you think of a new climate apocalyptic "Mad Max" film, despite models that remind you of orcs from the new "Lord of the Rings" series - remains a bit of hope enrolled.
On the other hand, the mud is also the cradle of life.
Something new grows out of him.
That the megalomaniac Ye of all people opened this mudslinging and indirectly presented himself as the savior (»Security«!) in hopeless times is actually not surprising.
He's a Savior in mud pants.