In the six years since he joined Balenciaga as creative director, Demna Gvasalia has simultaneously reinvented the house and redefined luxury fashion. The brand now operates as a kind of 21st-century cultural beacon, through which a combination of oversized tailoring, archness, logo-mania, dystopia, streetwear, politics, Kim Kardashian, post-Soviet industrial cyber goth, ‘ugly’ dad sneakers, and multiple pop-culture references happily co-exist with an avant-garde reworking of traditional couture and Cristóbal Balenciaga’s own esteemed heritage.

Along the way, Gvasalia has assembled his post-modern mash-up in such a way that it makes Balenciaga relatable to a Gen-Z audience, even though the brand’s entry-level physical product – a basic white logo on black baseball cap – retails at $425. Balenciaga’s recent collaboration with gaming phenomenon Fortnite – in which virtual branded ‘skins’ cost the equivalent of $12 – hints at a vision that has today’s savvy and engaged teenagers now tantalisingly poised to become the brand’s key consumer demographic, far sooner than for previous generations.

Balenciaga, it seems, seeps deeper into the popular consciousness each day, oscillating between high and low brow, mass and niche, celebrity and sub-culture, streetwear and couture, VR and IRL. And given that it’s been reported the company generates over €1 billion in annual revenue, the prospects moving forward are eye-watering.

But with all the cultural domination and non-stop growth comes the question, when is big too big? When might ubiquity damage cult-like appeal? When does the avant-garde become the status quo? Over the past few months, System has taken a closer look inside the Balenciaga phenomenon. It’s been a period in which the brand’s unrelenting activity has stepped up a gear, and its cultural idiosyncrasies played out as much on Reddit as the red carpet.

The starting point of course is Gvasalia himself. In a series of wide-ranging conversations – with writer Cathy Horyn, alongside Balenciaga CEO Cédric Charbit, and on the phone with his one-time teacher Linda Loppa – Demna showed himself to be thoughtful, self-aware, amusing, incredibly focused and, in the parlance of the therapy he’s been undergoing, ‘in a good place’. Our conclusion? Balenciaga has turned fashion on its head – and it’s a uniquely giddy and fearless place to be right now.