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!
![Black taffeta cocktail dress designed by Balenciaga, 1951[9]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/BK-1986-58_-_Cocktail_gown_%281951%29_probably_designed_by_Crist%C3%B3bal_Balenciaga.jpg/440px-BK-1986-58_-_Cocktail_gown_%281951%29_probably_designed_by_Crist%C3%B3bal_Balenciaga.jpg)
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.
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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.
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