“The Fashion Titan,” “the only real couturier,” “The Sculptor-Tailor,” “our teacher,” “the architect of haute couture,” These are just some of the names that many important figures of the fashion world such as Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Oscar de La Renta, André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, etc., used to define one of the greatest talents of the haute couture: Cristóbal Balenciaga. Not only did he revolutionize the history of fashion by shaking up the concepts of femininity and feminine silhouette, but he also pushed fashion beyond its edges creating works of art that can’t be classified.
We summarized in 6 points the story of this couturier who made absolute elegance and volumes his own trademarks.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#1
The Beginnings
__________
Basque but Parisian of adoption, Cristóbal Balenciaga was born in 1895 in a small village in Getaria. His mother was a dressmaker while his father a fisherman. He got the passion for fabrics from his mother, cultivating the dream of becoming a couturier. At only 11 years old, he was already working as an apprentice with a tailor in his Country improving year by year his designing and tailoring skills. At the age of 12, he opened his first shop in San Sebastián. After that, he landed in Madrid and Barcelona. Because of the Civil War, he had to move to Paris where, in 1937, he opened his atelier in Avenue George V, on the third floor of Palazzo Borghese.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#2
The 1940s: Paris and the Haute Couture
__________
Balenciaga made Paris become “the theatre” of his talent and timeless style. Even if he was an avant-garde and a visionary, he never forgot his origins: characteristic elements of his country such as lace, the Bolero lace and the contrast between red and black always remained in his collections. His first line was inspired by the Spanish Renaissance, while the following one took inspiration from the Princess of Spain’s clothes, portrayed by the artist Diego Velasquez, and from the boleros worn by Spanish bullfighters. His maniac attention to detail and his refined taste soon conquered the European aristocracy, bringing into the Maison some of the most beautiful and powerful women of that time.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#3
50s-60s: The Golden Age and the Clash with Christian Dior
__________
These two decades represented for Christóbal the years of revelation that would elevate him as one of the most illustrious masters of Art Costume. In this period, when femininity was manifested through tapering shapes of the corseted clothes and the “wheeled” skirts of Christian Dior’s New Look, Balenciaga instead unleashed his genius by going towards a different direction: his mission was to free the body through volumes, symmetries, and chromatic contrasts.
This could be possible by ignoring the waist while choosing instead anti-conventional models like the semi-adherent sheath, the sack dress, the cocoon coat, the pleated baby doll, the balloon mini-dress, the blouse without the collar, the tunic dresses, the egg clothes and the flat necklines, which created a unique aesthetic. With this philosophy in mind, he also invented two fabrics: the Gazar, a very malleable silk raffia, suitable for the creation of volumes and the Cracknyl, a plastic coated, sparkling and waterproof fabric.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#4
The Rejection of Prêt-à-porter
__________
The revolutionary ‘60s brought deep changes in the social, political and cultural fields. The hippie movement, the rock’n’roll, the first sounds of pop music, the numerous social insurrections and the increase of working women changed the needs, the habits and customs of the society. As a consequence, in those years a new branch was born in fashion design, the prêt-à-porter: a concept opposed to the haute couture that follows the needs and the rhythms of the new world. Tailored “works of art” were starting to be replaced by ready to wear clothes in standardized sizes that were sold in big stores. The direct and personal relationship with the client inside the ateliers was being replaced by an independent and impersonal “purchasing” mood.
The search for an unconventional style, unique but easy to wear, the rediscovery of the feminine body through the use of mini dresses and miniskirts, the energy of pop colors, the optical and geometrical prints represented the birth of a new aesthetic. However, this was not in line with Balenciaga’s ideals. Indeed, whenever someone asked him what were his thoughts on this new trend, he always answered: “I will never prostitute my talent.” So, in 1968, at the top of his success, he preferred to retire from the scenes and to be remembered as the most stylish and elegant tailor.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#5
Cristóbal Balenciaga and Demna Gvasalia: Two Generations Compared
__________
The first one was a pioneer of haute couture, the second one a street-style lover. These two geniuses of fashion design could not be more apart from each other. However, they have something in common. “I believe they are united by a similar attitude towards the fashion system and the press and they are not afraid to challenge the rules. They also share a similar approach to the body. Demna Gvasalia, (Balenciaga’s creative director from 2015), treats it in a way, with such a self-confidence in cutting and creating that can also be found in Balenciaga’s work,” says Cassie Davies-Strodder, Fashion and Textile Department curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
__________
The History of Balenciaga
#6
Balenciaga: “Shaping Fashion”
__________
46 years after Balenciaga’s death, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London inaugurated an exhibition to honor the most respected “sculptor” of the 20th century. The exhibition celebrated the great work of the “Picasso of Fashion” focusing on the period between the ‘50s and the ‘60s. “These two decades represent a turning point in Balenciaga’s career, who in those years began to distance significantly from the aesthetics of his contemporaries,” said Cassie Davies-Strodder, curator of the exhibition.
Emblematic, in fact, was the garment that opened the exhibition: a dress with a gazar cloak in chartreuse (green) dating back to 1961, whose silhouette reminds the one of an elegant caterpillar and that could easily be mistaken for a futuristic creation of Comme des Garçons. “The dress is a wonderful distilled of his ideas and shows his abstraction of the body; it’s absolutely modern. Silhouettes like this one made people cry out to the scandal at that time, as they completely eliminated the waistline,” continued Davies-Strodder. Not to mention the museum dedicated to him that was inaugurated in Getaria, Spain, on June 10th, 2011 by Queen Sofia. It could be interpreted as a sort of farewell from his most affectionate clients, a regal recognition for the emperor of luxury.
