“I give you the best example that everyone can relate to,” he continued, “The Kardashians. You have Kim, who is an amazing person – we think she is phenomenal – and you have Kylie. Kylie is the young generation. She’s been very successful without having sex tapes, without having to go through all the things her sister had to go through. Another example is Venus and Serena Williams. They’re both fantastic. But somehow there was a point where Serena got into managed to take over.
“I think my brother is very talented, but I have a very different view of things. He had his good run of 10 years and I think his era is slowly coming to an end. Now is my time.”
Is that why he chose to post his Madonna reveal not long after Balenciaga’s couture show?
“It’s just the right time for us, following the momentum of our show,” he said. Then he added: “Balenciaga always releases news the day of our show, so I think it’s only fair.” “Always” might be a bit of an exaggeration, though he did point it out: “They announced Demna’s appointment on my birthday.” That was true (October 7, 2015), though it takes a long time to hold a grudge.
Sometimes it’s hard not to wonder if Mr. Gvasalia knows what he’s saying – or how it’s being received – or if he’s purposely trying to make the pot roll. After all, said Julie Gilhart, chief development officer and president of Tomorrow Consulting, who started following Vetements not long after its debut, “There’s nothing sloppy about Guram. I once sat with him in an airport lounge and saw how his bag was organized – it was perfect. Everything had a place. He never stops thinking. And he is very precise.”
“It’s not enough to be good. I must be very good.’
Currently, the two Gvasalias are trying to keep their public selves separate. Demna dropped his surname at the end of 2021. Guram said he preferred not to speak to his brother for this play. When I asked Demna for comment anyway, Demna replied through a spokeswoman: “Being with Balenciaga, I usually prefer to focus on that when speaking to the press or in a professional context. My experience at Vetements was great, but I leave it as good memories in the past.”
Yet it is almost impossible to untangle their stories.
Demna and Guram were born in Sokhumi, Georgia. When Guram was 7, civil war broke out and the family fled home, leaving everything behind. They spent a month in the mountains before finally heading to Düsseldorf, Germany, where the boys grew up. (In 2021, Guram told Forbes Georgia that if his family had stayed in Georgia, “I would probably be president.”)
