Balenciaga

Balenciaga () is a French fashion house founded by Crist bal Balenciaga, a Spanish designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as “the master of us all” by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern shapes were trademarks of the house. The House of Balenciaga is now owned by the French multinational company K[[Kering|ering]]. Balenciaga’s current Creative Director is [[Alexander Wang (designer)|Alexander Wang]]. ==History== Crist bal Balenciaga opened his first boutique in [[San Sebasti n]], [[Spain]] in 1918, which expanded to include branches in Madrid and Barcelona.{{cite web | last = Charleston | first =Beth Duncuff | title =Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972)| work=Timeline of Art History| publisher =Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=October 2004 | url =https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bale/hd_bale.htm| accessdate = 2007-03-11 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070127124703/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bale/hd_bale.htm| archivedate= 27 January 2007 | deadurl= no}} The Spanish royal family and the aristocracy wore his designs, but when the [[Spanish Civil War]] forced him to close his stores, Balenciaga moved to Paris. Balenciaga opened his [[Paris]] couture house on Avenue George V in August 1937, and his first runway show featured designs heavily influenced by the [[Spanish Renaissance]]. Balenciaga’s success in Paris was nearly immediate. Within two years, the [[France|French]] press lauded him as a revolutionary, and his designs were highly sought-after. [[Carmel Snow]], the editor of ”[[Harper’s Bazaar]]” was an early champion of his designs. Customers risked their safety to travel to Europe during [[World War II]] to see Balenciaga’s clothing. During this period, he was noted for his “square coat,” with sleeves cut in a single piece with the yoke, and for his designs with black (or black and brown) lace over bright pink fabric. However, it was not until the post-war years that the full scale of the inventiveness of this highly original designer became evident. His lines became more linear and sleek, diverging from the hourglass shape popularized by [[Christian Dior]]’s “[[Christian Dior S.A.#The “New Look”|New Look]]”. The fluidity of his silhouettes enabled him to manipulate the relationship between his clothing and women’s bodies. In 1951, he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist. In 1955, he designed the tunic dress, which later developed into the chemise dress of 1958. Other contributions in the postwar era included the spherical balloon jacket (1953), the high-waisted baby doll dress (1957), the cocoon coat (1957), the balloon skirt (1957), and the sack dress (1957). In 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos. His manipulation of the waist, in particular, contributed to “what is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women.” In the 1960s, Balenciaga was an innovator in his use of fabrics: he tended toward heavy fabrics, intricate embroidery, and bold materials. His trademarks included “collars that stood away from the collarbone to give a swanlike appearance” and shortened “bracelet” sleeves. His often spare, sculptural creations—including funnel-shape gowns of stiff duchess satin worn to acclaim by clients such as [[Pauline Fairfax Potter|Pauline de Rothschild]], [[Rachel Lambert Lloyd|Bunny Mellon]], [[Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto|Marella Agnelli]], [[Hope Portocarrero]], [[Gloria Rubio y Alatorre|Gloria Guinness]], and [[Mona von Bismarck]]—were considered masterworks of haute couture in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960, he designed the wedding dress for [[Queen Fabiola of Belgium]] made of ivory duchess satin trimmed with white mink at the collar and the hips. [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jackie Kennedy]] famously upset [[John F. Kennedy]] for buying Balenciaga’s expensive creations while he was President because he feared that the American public might think the purchases too lavish. Her haute couture bills were eventually discreetly paid by her father-in-law, [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.|Joseph Kennedy]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} === Prot g s === Several 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 [[prot g ]] was [[Hubert de Givenchy]], who was the lone designer to side with Balenciaga against the [[Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne]] and also the press over the scheduling of his shows.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} ===Battle against the Press=== In 1957, Balenciaga famously decided to show his collection to the fashion press the day before the clothing retail delivery date, not the standard four weeks before the retail delivery date the fashion industry followed at the time. By keeping the press unaware of the design of his garments until the day before they were shipped to stores, he hoped to curtail ongoing piracy and copying of his designs. The press resisted, finding it nearly impossible to get his work into their print deadlines, but Balenciaga and mentored [[Givenchy]] stood firm, seriously impacting their coverage and press of the era. His supporters would argue that rival [[Christian Dior]] would gain acclaim from copying Balenciaga’s silhouettes and cuts, claiming them as his own original work; because Balenciaga wasn’t interested in press coverage, the media, and consumer never knew.
In 1967, both designers reversed their decision and joined the traditional schedule. ===Battle against the Chambre=== Balenciaga defiantly resisted the rules, guidelines, and [[bourgeoisie]] status of the Chambre, and, thus, was never a member. Although, he is spoken of with immense reverence, technically, Balenciaga couture was never [[Haute Couture]]. Crist bal Balenciaga closed his fashion house in 1968 and died in 1972. The house lay dormant until 1986. ==Balenciaga 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} During Thimister’s term, [[Nicolas Ghesqui re]] would join as a license designer, and eventually was promoted to head designer in 1997. In 1992, for the Summer Olympic Games, House of Balenciaga designed the French team’s clothes.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} Balenciaga is now owned by [[Kering]], formerly known as PPR, and its womenswear and menswear was headed by [[Nicolas Ghesqui re]]. Ghesqui re, like Balenciaga, is a self-taught designer, and apprenticed to [[Jean-Paul Gaultier]] and [[Agnes B]]. The hip, fresh interpretation of Balenciaga classics, such as the semifitted jacket and the sack dress, caught the attention of the media as well as such celebrities as [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] and [[Sin ad O’Connor]]. In 2002, Balenciaga’s star Nicolas Ghesquiere copied the work of Kaisik Wong, a designer from San Francisco. Nicolas Ghesquiere created a patchwork vest in his spring collection that resembled one that Wong designed in 1973. Nicolas Ghesquiere admitted in an interview in Paris that he had copied the garment.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} There was some conflict within the House of Balenciaga on Nicolas Ghesquiere’s designs. The Gucci group said that if Balenciaga didn’t become profitable within the year 2007, they would replace him.{{citation needed|date=March 2007}} Ghesqui re’s F/W 2005 line showed that the house was not only profitable, but also attracted a number of [[celebrity]] customers including [[editor-in-chief]] at ”[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]” [[Anna Wintour]]. The House of Balenciaga designed the dresses worn by [[Jennifer Connelly]] and [[Nicole Kidman]] to the 2006 [[Academy Awards]], as well as the wedding gown Kidman wore when she married [[Keith Urban]]. [[Kylie Minogue]] also wore a Balenciaga dress for her “[[Slow (Kylie Minogue song)|Slow]]” and “[[Red Blooded Woman]]” music videos and for her concert tour. Today, the brand is most famous for its line of motorcycle-inspired handbags, especially the famous “Lariat.”{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} Balenciaga has eight exclusive boutiques in the United States. One Balenciaga store is located on 22nd St in New York City, New York. A second store is located in Los Angeles, Califiornia on Melrose Avenue. Recently, a third store opened at the South Coast Plaza, in Costa Mesa, Califiornia. This store is {{convert|1200|sqft|m2}} and includes coffin-like inset displays. The New York and Los Angeles boutiques carry both men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, while the South Coast Plaza boutique carries only women’s clothing. The fourth, located in Las Vegas inside Caesers Palace, carries only accessories. There is another store in Las Vegas located in Crystals at City Center which sells accessories as well as women’s ready-to-wear. Another is in the [[Ala Moana Center]] in [[Honolulu]], where they sell men and woman’s ready to wear and accessories. There’s a store at the Bal Harbour shops in Bal Harbour, Florida. Lastly, the eighth store is opening spring 2014 in [[Dallas]], Texas at the [[Highland Park Village]] to become the first boutique in [[Texas]]. The [[Highland Park Village]] boutique is opening next to [[Christian Dior]] and will carry men and woman’s ready to wear and accessories. All of the boutiques employ dynamic architecture, with white paneling, marble, and glass work as well as black leather seats and light green, black and navy carpets or white tiles, emphasizing the brand’s lean toward avant-garde and the drama of fashion.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 2007 show wowed ”[[Teen Vogue]]” editor-in-chief [[Amy Astley]] so much that an entire recent spread in the magazine, titled “Global Studies” and shot in Beijing, was influenced by it. The line included skinny [[jodhpurs]], tight, fitted blazers, beaded embellished scarves, and other multicultural mixes. Balenciaga is also very well known for creating avant-garde structural pieces, straddling the edge of fashion and forecasting the future of women’s ready-to-wear fashion. [[Vintage clothing|Vintage]] Balenciaga garments are very popular among influential fashion editors, Hollywood stars, and top models, and have been seen on [[Sienna Miller]], [[Lara Bingle]], [[Raquel Zimmerman]], [[Caroline Trentini]], [[Emmanuelle Alt]], [[Tatiana Sorokko]], [[Hilary Rhoda]], [[Jennifer Garner]], and [[Stephanie Seymour]], among others. Balenciaga is also frequently worn by fashion icon and actress [[Chlo Sevigny]], who is also a muse of Nicolas Ghesquiere. On 24 March 2011 at San Francisco’s [[M. H. de Young Memorial Museum|M.H. de Young Museum]], House of Balenciaga celebrated the opening of ”’Balenciaga and Spain”’, a 120-piece fashion retrospective of [[Crist bal Balenciaga]]’s career. ‘You can’t even measure it,’ said [[Rodarte]] designer Laura Mulleavy of Crist bal Balenciaga’s influence. The $2,500-a-ticket fund-raiser for the museum drew 350 guests, including Denise Hale, [[Marissa Mayer]], Vanessa Getty, Victoria Traina, Vanessa Traina, [[Jamie Tisch]], [[Gwyneth Paltrow]], [[Orlando Bloom]], [[Balthazar Getty]], [[Maggie Rizer]], [[Connie Nielsen]], [[Maria Bello]], and [[Mia Wasikowska]]. On November 5, 2012, Balenciaga announced that it was parting ways with creative director [[Nicolas Ghesqui re]], ending his 15-year tenure. The brand announced [[Alexander Wang (designer)|Alexander Wang]] its new creative director. [[Alexander Wang (designer)|Wang]] presented his first collection for the label on February 28, 2013 at [[Paris Fashion Week]]. In 2014, the [[Tribunal de grande instance de Paris]] has set a trial date for the lawsuit between Balenciaga vs. Ghesqui re. ==In popular culture== On January 29, 2014, the character [https://www.msfabulous.com/2014/01/rip-myrtle-snow-american-horror-story.html Myrtle Snow cries “Balenciaga!”] as her dying words on the season finale of FX television show [[American Horror Story]]. ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{Commons category|Balenciaga}} * [https://www.balenciaga.com/ The Official Balenciaga Site] *{{fashionlabel|id=cristbal-balenciaga}} * [https://www.thelondonpaper.com/galleries/paris Paris Fashion Show 2007: Balenciaga Catwalk] * [https://www.otis.edu/life_otis/faculty_life/faculty_development/grantee_reports/aiko_beall.html Professor Aiko Beall of Otis College of Art and Design on Balenciaga] * {{cite web |publisher= [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] |url= https://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/explore.php |title= Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies}} * [https://cristobalbalenciagamuseoa.com/ The Cristobal Balenciaga Museum in Getaria, Spain] {{PPR (company)}} [[Category:Gucci brands]] [[Category:High fashion brands]] [[Category:French brands]] [[Category:Clothing companies of France]] [[Category:Companies based in Paris]] [[Category:Luxury brands]] [[es:Crist bal Balenciaga]]