The true business of Balenciaga is not what you think and certainly not what you know today. Cristabol Balenciaga was the true couturier of Balenciaga designs. I was introduced to his designs while attending college and he immediately became one of my top favorite designers. What you know of the brand today is nothing compared to the brand or the man Balenciaga. In fact, I dare say he would be quite mortified, if not completely ashamed over the use of his name and what has become of the brand today.
Cristabol Balenciaga was born in Spain in 1895. His Father was a fisherman and his mother a seamstress. His father died while he was young and his mother used her skills as a seamstress to provide for the family. She quickly gained popularity and was the personal seamstress to the wealthy and well known. This was pivotal in Cristabol’s life as he grew a love for fashion. When he was just 6 years old he began making clothes for his dog as he watched his mother work. When he was 12 he began his tailoring apprenticeship. By the time he was 16 he began working for a Parisian department store located in Spain. Here he was promoted to the head of women’s dresses at just 18years old. This gave him the education he needed in haute couture and the business of fashion including ordering, budgeting, working with buyers, fashion shows, etc. In 1917 at the age of 22 he opened his own brand, C. Balenciaga. This was the beginning of a legacy.
Balenciaga was not a man who craved attention or notoriety. Unless I am corrected, I believe he only gave one interview in his 50 year career. He also refused to export his designs to America until the late 50’s. He wanted to stay in the background and at the time fashion magazines were only allowed to photograph two of his models per issue.
He was known as the one of the “Greats”, even among other influential designers. He was a perfectionist and a true master of tailoring. He was one of the rare designers who could actually make every one of his designs and garments if necessary. He designed with the fabric in mind. Most designers begin with sketches and an idea. He began with the fabric. The weight, the feel, the color, it all spoke to him and what he thought the fabric needed to be. When Dior was designing for a certain woman of a certain size, Balenciaga was doing the complete opposite. He desired for his clothes to be comfortable and the one who is credited with the babydoll dress. This is only the one of his many credits. “A woman has no need to be perfect or even be beautiful to wear my dresses. The dress will do that for her.” Of wearing a Balenciaga dress, Diana Vreeland said, “In a Balenciaga you were the only woman in the room – no other woman existed.”
He mentored Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta and others. Dior was continuously inspired by him. Even in his time he did not agree with the Ready to Wear fashion as he could not imagine designing something without knowing who would own it. He had many loyal clients and a personal relationship with them all. He would certainly shake his head at fast fashion today and the lack of talent of among true designers.
CoCo Chanel was quoted as saying of Balenciaga, “Balenciaga alone is a couturier in the truest sense of the word. Only he is capable of cutting material, assembling a creation and sewing it by hand, the others are simply fashion designers.” Dior has said he “was the master of us all.”
In the summer of 1968 Balenciaga closed his fashion house. I believe he was disgruntled over the fashion world and specifically haute couture that prompted his closing. The business of the Balenciaga brand was finished. He did accept the job of designing the wedding dress for the granddaughter of dictator Francisco Franco. A few short months after the dress was finished and the wedding was over, he passed away from a heart attack at the age of 77years.
The Balenciaga brand was bought and revived in 1986. In my opinion it was his name that was purchased and abused and still is today. When Cristobal closed his fashion house in 1968 that was the end of the legendary design house and I firmly believe it can never be replicated, though it seems many have tried at the expense of his name. The business of Balenciaga has certainly changed from its origins. He certainly had a profound impact on fashion that still ripples through the industry today.
Photography Credit: Victoria & Albert Museum; Balenciaga Museum Exhibition; Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum