Cristóbal Balenciaga

Born in 1895 in Getaria, a small fishing village of northern Spain, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish dress designer who created elegant ball gowns and other classic designs. He was introduced to fashion by his mother, who was a seamstress. Aged just twelve, he began a training period at a tailor’s neighbouring fashionable resort of San Sebastian. In 1917 he established his first fashion house, named Eisa – a shortening of his mother’s maiden name.

Balenciaga opened fashion houses in Barcelona and Madrid before moving to Paris in 1937 when the Spanish Civil War disrupted his business. For the next 30 years his collections featured elegant dresses and suits. The house on Avenue Georges V quickly became the city’s most expensive and exclusive couturier. He knew his craft inside out and was adept at every stage of the making process, from pattern drafting to cutting, assembling and finishing a garment. For him, the design process started with the fabric rather than with a sketch.

Balenciaga gown, fashion illustration.

Balenciaga suit, fashion illustration.

1950’s Balenciaga initiated new shapes which were never seen before in women’s fashion. Such radical designs evolved gradually as a result of refine and rework done on the same ideas repeatedly.

‘Balloon hems’ of his early 1950’s dresses were filled with volume. It was then used in the mid- 50’s at the back of his ‘semi-fit’ lines. Dresses and jackets fitted at the front but with loose voluminous backs.

Lace, silk, shiny materials and textured effects compete with silhouettes, volumes, and drapes.

Cristóbal’s inversion of colour – geometric lines of pattern with graphic effects In 1957 he shocked the fashion world with the introduction of the ‘sack dress’, a straight up and down shift dress which completely eliminated the waist. At a time when Christian Dior’s hour-glass shaped New Look was dominant, the ‘sack’ was subjected to hostility from both clients and press.

The ghostly vision of bones and hoops captured by X-ray is by far the most dramatic display of the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Silk taffeta by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1954.

Balenciaga orange coat, Paris, France, 1954.

Model Wearing Balenciaga Evening Dress and Cape, photograph by Irving Penn for Vogue, 1950.

Mouton noir (“black sheep”) evening coat in lace and silk gazar with satin trousers by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1955.

Sack dress, Cristóbal Balenciaga, 1957, Paris. His notable ‘sack’ dress was addressed to controversy and was viewed as unflattering for women’s body, especially at the time when strong feminine curves were being valorised and certainly not concealed.

1960’s From 1961, Balenciaga shows the extent to which his work could be modern as well as odd.

His ideas at that time - abstracting the body, rather than restricting it. This idea of influence and comparison is not immediately seen in the lower area, keeping in mind the clients who were wedded to wearing elegant clothes and sculptural hats.

Balenciaga helped popularize the trend toward capes and flowing clothes without waistlines in the late 1950s and the use of plastic for rainwear in the mid-1960s.

From stockings and nightgowns to wedding dresses and wall hangings, embroidery has been used to decorate textiles. From cross stitch to underside couching, collection includes examples of embroidery techniques from around the world.

Secret of its impeccable shape is revealed by the X-ray as a line of coin-sized weights.

Evening dress in wild silk with embroidery by Lesage, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1960-1962 Coat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, embroidered by Lesage, 1961, Paris.

Alberta Tiburzi in ‘envelope’ dress by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Harper’s Bazaar, June 1967.

Flamenco-style evening dress, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1961.

Evening mini-dress with metal wire and plastic pailettes by Paco Rabanne, Paris, 1967.

“La Tulipe” evening dress in silk gazar by Balenciaga for EISA, Spain, 1965.

Balenciaga Hat Balenciaga’s hat ensures that volumes are balanced and the silhouette is prefect. In 1950’s and 60’s etiquette conveyed that hats can be worn on all formal occasions. When out at a dinner, a cocktail party, an evening at the theatre. A conventional group could can get along with a striking hat which lifts the entire look and makes it more innovative. Couture hats were made bespoke to complete a clients outfit. Designs for hats were as fiercely protected as those for dresses. The police commissioner stanped the official sketches to protect them from being copied.

Balenciaga did not design the hats himself but worked closely with his hat designers : Wadzio d’Attainville and later the Spaniard Ramón Esparza.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, velvet, ramie, cellophane and plastic, 1955 – 60, Paris.

Balenciaga’s hat were the most elaborate in Paris. It was elaborate to the extent that during the Second World War the authorities shut down his millinery workshops along with the accusation on him for exceeding the fabric allowance under austerity measures and encouraging the fashion for extravagant millinery. His hats of the 1950’s and 60’s grew surreal as they played with scale, shape, and unusable materials.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, leather, about 1962, Paris.

The dome shaped, white leather ‘pillbox’ hat belonged to Gloria Guinness.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, straw, silk and elastic, 1950, Paris.

The beret-shaped decorative hat is made from glossy golden straw, mounted on to a wire base and finished with leaves and berries. It was worn by the British theatre and film actress Martita Hunt.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, woven straw, grosgrain and velvet, 1963, Paris.

The hat of woven straw in striking green was given to the V&A.

‘Spiral’ hat, Balenciaga for Eisa, silk, 1962, Spain.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, sheared ostrich feathers, 1955 – 60, Paris.

The pom-pom hat of cut ostrich feathers is associated to socialite Gloria Guinness. The X-ray photography reveals how it is secured internally by a haircomb.

Hat, Cristóbal Balenciaga, felt, 1962, made in Paris, retailed at Harrods.

The oversized felt which is typical to Balenciaga’s sculptural style. It would have been worn with daywear – a tailored suit or tailored sculptural coat. Balenciaga often teamed flamboyantly constructed hats with the linear tailoring of his daywear.

The ‘spiral’ hat is worn like the pillbox, perched on top of the head. It is secured by three haircombs from inside which support the sculptural spirals rising up at the back. The hat is a perfect example of the dramatic yet minimal sculptural shapes for which Balenciaga was known. Its clean lines and solid block colour exemplify the couturier’s desire to strip things back to their simplest form.

fig 1. Cape, dress and boots by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga, Paris, Autumn/Winter 2006.

fig 2. Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga, Autumn Winter 2016 ready-to-wear.

fig 3. Oscar de la Renta, Spring/ Summer 2015 ready-to-wear.

Skirt suit, Cristóbal Balenciaga, 1954 – 5, Paris.

Evening dress in wild silk with embroidery

by Lesage, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1960-1962.

fig 1: Clothes from André Courrèges, who used Balenciaga’s training as a pattern cutter for Balenciaga to launch his own Space Age modernism. Nicolas Ghesquière and Demna Gvasalia have interpreted the Balenciaga brand for the 21st century. fig 2 :The master’s innovative pattern cutting, use of new materials and architectural shapes which are bold have remained influential. In 1986 the Balenciaga label re-launched under a series of Creative Directors. Nicolas Ghesquière has been credited for reviving the label from 1997-2012. Demma Gvasalia, the current Creative Director ensures that the name Balenciaga is on everybody’s lips today. Both designers have closely worked with the Balenciaga House archives, for inspiration in cut, shape, materials. fig 3 : Oscar de la Renta and Hubert de Givenchy are also seen to be following the master with whom they apprenticed.

Balenciaga is visionary in various ways. He is a traditionalist at the same time in terms of his craft, the shapes he was pursuing and the materials he was using. The Paris version of The Balenciaga centenary has backdrop of sculptures which echo the construction of the clothes, focus on black, showing its power in different textures and shades. Famed for his elegant craftsmanship and innovative designs, Spanish Couturier Cristobal Balenciaga was known as ‘The Master’ of haute couture. In 1968 the house of Balenciaga closed, and he retired. An inspiration to those who follow his footsteps. His work continues to shape fashion today.