History of Balenciaga

Legendary fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga created Balenciaga in 1919. He created outfits worthy of not only famous actresses and models, but even princesses. The luxurious cut and original design reflect a discreet French chic and Spanish motifs.

Start

Cristobal Balenciaga Eisagirre was born on 21 January 1895, in Getaria. The future fashion designer grew up in a simple family of seamstresses and fishermen. His mother’s trade interested him from a young age, and he gradually began to understand all the nuances of tailoring. After his father’s death in 1907, the Balenciaga family moved to San Sebastian. From the age of 12, the boy had to earn a living as an apprentice in an atelier.

A year later, the royal family arrived in their town, surrounded by many courtiers. The teenager was not afraid to criticize the dress of the Marquise Casas Torres, proposing to sew a better one. The Marquise was astonished but she agreed. Cristobal succeeded in creating a sumptuous and at the same time exquisite dress. As a reward, the noblewoman paid for the boy’s studies at famous tailors, and then sent him to the capital of France for an apprenticeship with Coco Chanel herself. Years later, Chanel would notice that there was only one couturier among the many designers – Cristobal Balenciaga.

The founding of the Balenciaga house

In 1914, Cristobal had his own label. Four years later he launched his first label, followed by two more shops two years later. Its products were a resounding success and were never short of shelf space.

Balenciaga moved to Paris in 1937 and the new fashion house was considered French. It was here that his collections enjoyed unprecedented popularity.

A fashion revolution

The post-war period saw a burst of new silhouettes and trends, including wide shoulders, open backs, loose fitting, round collars, tunics, shirt dresses and rounded jackets.

The 1960 collection was made from heavy weight fabrics with intricate embroidery. The ladies wearing the Balenciaga dresses received a lot of attention.

Due to a disagreement with the Syndicate of Haute Couture, Cristobal Balenciaga was forced to close in 1968 and passed away four years later.

Resurrection

Balenciaga was bought by couturier Jacques Bogart in 1986. A new designer, Michel Gault, immediately set about designing a collection of clothing.

In 1992 the house became a member of the haute couture syndicate. He was entrusted with making the sportswear for the French participants in the Olympic Games.

In 1997 Nicolas Ghesquière took over as creative director after he disgraced the maison in 2002 by copying a dress designed by Caixic Wong. Ghesquière managed to rehabilitate himself by creating a spectacular Autumn-Winter 2005/2006 collection.

A new story

Today Demna Gvasalia is the creative director of Balenciaga, sticking to sculptural forms and futuristic designs. The Balenciaga Triple S trainers are enormously popular, as they are expensive but made in China due to their huge production volumes. But this does not diminish the attention of customers to the legendary products of the Balenciaga house.