Backstage at Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière talked about his collection, quite simply, as an exploration of "matte and shine, playing with textures to see how they reflect or absorb light. And playing with our house codes." There's nothing remotely simple, however, about the complex, futuristic synthesis of line, cut, and glinting surfaces that played out on his runway. It involved silvered Lurex streaking over skin to cover legs, feet, and hands; asymmetric combinations of drape and structure; bonded jersey pantsuits with A-line tunic tops; tissue-fine metallic crinkle-pleated jackets; and, somewhere in the middle, pale suede pieces that looked as if they might have been extruded from some high-spec industrial machine.