Cristóbal Balenciaga

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Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre was born in the Basque region of Spain in 1895. Like many of us, his mother was a seamstress and he learned the ins and outs of sewing and design from watching her at work. At the ripe young age of 12, he apprenticed for a tailor which led to the introduction to the Marchioness de Casa Torres— who soon became his patroness (what a fairy tale!), who sent him to design school in Madrid as a teenager and was to become his first customer. Read on for dozens of sketches and designs!

In 1919, Balenciaga opened his first shop, Eisa, in San Sebastián, Spain, with branches to follow in Madrid and Barcelona. His designs were adored by the Spanish royalty and various aristocrats, but this hype abruptly came to a halt during the Spanish Civil war, which ultimately led Balenciaga to Paris to opened his first couture shop on Avenue George V in August 1937.




In Paris, the fashion capital of the world at the time, the talented designer joined the ranks of Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Mainbocher, among other established couturiers. In August 1937, Balenciaga staged his first runway show at his Avenue George V atelier, showing a collection that was heavily influenced by the Spanish Renaissance. Source: Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art





By 1939, Balenciaga was being praised in the French press as a revolutionizing force in fashion, with buyers and customers fighting to gain access to his collection. During World War II, clients risked travel to Europe for Balenciaga’s designs, especially his celebrated square coat—in which the sleeve was cut in one piece with the yoke—and anything shown in his unique color combination of black and brown or black lace over bright pink. Source: Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.





1949 brought the release of Balenciaga’s first perfume, La Fuite des Heures (or Fleeting Moments), a Provençal herbs and jasmine formula of great radiance and tenacity.



Unlike many couturiers, Balenciaga was able to drape, cut, and fit his own muslin patterns, known as toiles. It was in 1951 that Balenciaga really started to garner attention for his innate design sensibility— he completely reinvented the silhouette of the suit: Eliminating the waist and broadening the shoulders. He made two styles, the former, which was quite innovative, and another that hugged the hourglass shape a la Christian Dior. La Maison de Balenciaga created 356 designs per year (and that’s only half of what Dior did per year: 815!).




The late 50s (and early 60s) captured many of my favorite moments in Balenciaga’s career— again, his keen instinct to manipulate fabric into fluid, modernist silhouettes— is just perfection.




Throughout the 1960s, Balenciaga continued showing collections of unparalleled technique and beauty. His innovative use of fabric—he liked bold materials, heavy cloths, and ornate embroideries—led him to work with the Swiss fabric house of Abraham. Together they developed silk gazar, a stiffer version of the pliable fabric that Balenciaga used in suits, day dresses, and evening wear. Loyal clients such as the Duchess of Windsor, Pauline de Rothschild, and Gloria Guinness continued to appreciate the discreet but important touches he provided in his clothing: collars that stood away from the collarbone to give a swanlike appearance and the shortened (seven-eighths-length) bracelet sleeve, so called because it enabled the wearer to better flaunt her jewelry. Source: Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.




When the Balenciaga salon closed in 1968, the occasion marked the end of the career of a great artist whose influence is still being felt in the twenty-first century. The modern look that he created has been sustained by André Courrèges and Emanuel Ungaro, who both apprenticed at his atelier, and by Hubert de Givenchy, among others. Balenciaga died on March 24, 1972, at home in his beloved Spain. A longtime client offered a fitting epitaph: “Women did not have to be perfect or even beautiful to wear his clothes. His clothes made them beautiful.” Source: Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.




Only a handful of designers who worked for Balenciaga would go on to open their own successful couture houses, notably Oscar de la Renta (1949), Andre Courreges (1950), Emanuel Ungaro (1958), but his most famous and noted protégé was Hubert de Givenchy, who was the lone designer to side with Balenciaga against the Chambre Syndicale de les Couturiers Parisienne and also the press over the scheduling of his shows.

Today: In 1986, Jacques Bogart S.A. acquired the rights to Balenciaga, and opened a new ready-to-wear line, Le Dix. The first collection was designed by Michel Goma in October 1987, who remained at the house for the next five years to mixed reviews. He was replaced in 1992 with Dutch designer Josephus Thimister who began the restoration of Balenciaga to an elite, high-fashion status. During Thimister’s term, a young Nicolas Ghesquière would join as a license designer, and eventually promoted to head designer in 1997.


Unless otherwise noted, all images were sourced from The Heritage | La Maison Balenciaga, please visit the site for many more amazing photographs and sketches of this wonderful man.