November 2000
A Stitch in Time
Cristobal Balenciaga - three decades of elegance
Christian dior once compared the world of fashion to a grand symphony orchestra and Cristobal Balenciaga to its conductor. Indeed, for more than three decades, the fashion world followed his needle as closely as an orchestra heeds the maestro’s baton. He became mentor to several gifted young designers, including André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, Oscar de la Renta and Hubert de Givenchy. Dior, the founder of the postwar “New Look,” was not only his major rival, but one of his greatest admirers. A stroll through the spectacular Balenciaga retrospective at the Fashion Museum demonstrates why the Spanish couturier is still so revered today. In close collaboration with the Archives Balenciaga in Paris, the Museum
Bellerive in Zurich and the Marlene
Dietrich Collection in Berlin, the Fashion Museum has gathered together more than 80 original Balenciaga designs. Along with numerous accessories, hats and sketches, the show provides an in-depth view of the designer’s
oeuvre from 1939 to 1968.
Cristobal Balenciaga was born in Guetaria, Spain, in 1895. The son of a fisherman and a seamstress, he began learning needlework and dressmaking from his mother when he was still a boy. Under the sponsorship of the Marquesa de Casa-Torrès, he apprenticed as a tailor, trained at the Royal Studios and, by the age of 24, established his own tailoring business in San Sebastián. Soon, the young Basque dressed the Spanish aristocracy — to include the royal family — and opened two more couture houses in Madrid and Barcelona. The Spanish Civil War forced Balenciaga into exile in Paris in 1936, inadvertently laying the foundation for his international career. The fashion capital of the world greeted the arrival of Balenciaga with curiosity, as little more than rumors had been heard about the couturier. Soon, the inimitable elegance and opulence of his creations spellbound even the Parisians. The fashion shows held at Balenciaga’s salon on Avenue George V became some of the most sought-after events every season. During World War II, Balenciaga dresses were reportedly smuggled across the closed French frontiers more than any other item. He dressed “everyone who was anyone,” including European royalty, American aristocracy and film stars.
Over the next two decades, Balenciaga continued to refine his style. Following the opulence of his earlier collections, Balenciaga’s 1960s creations became increasingly simple and abstract. While timeless elegance, clear lines and expensive materials had always characterized his dresses, he revolutionized fashion through the dramatic changes he applied to the female silhouette. When he introduced the waistless “sack” style, an audience accustomed to the tapered look of the 1950s was initially shocked. With an unerring sense of proportion, he shortened sleeves and abolished collars to reveal the beauty of slender wrists and long necks. He played with geometric shapes, as in his straight, narrow I-line or in the voluminous O-line. His protégé Givenchy once called Balenciaga “the
architect of haute couture.” Balenciaga himself said that if “the framework is correct, you can construct anything you like.” Though his influence on fashion was mainly through the revolutionary shapes of his dresses, color was another essential ingredient of his work. To express a soft elegance, the designer often used black and cream materials. For more playful lines,
Balenciaga chose more vibrant colors such as emerald green and bubble gum pink. Lace, ribbons and the most elaborate embroideries gave the finishing touch to his works. The exhibition at the Fashion Museum features stunning examples of most of these developments, including a variety of breathtaking evening gowns. An elegant white suit worn by Marlene Dietrich in the film
Paris When it Sizzles and his legendary 1967 “trapèze” wedding dress with veil — which in its simplicity is reminiscent of a nun’s outfit — are also on display. Balenciaga is best remembered for his grand evening robes and cocktail dresses, but he also pioneered modern suits for women’s daytime wear. Unlike other designers he refrained from a uniform look, livening up a suit with a shawl, a cape or a tunic. He created such fashion classics as the baby doll dress and the pillbox hat, immortalized by Jackie Kennedy. With his sense for the dramatic, the world of theater naturally appealed to him. Over the years, he created costumes for several motion pictures and plays. He was an intensely private man who enjoyed working long hours in the secluded, almost monastic atmosphere of his studio. Much of Balenciaga’s inspiration came from the cultural heritage of his native Spain — the paintings of Vélasquez, El Greco and Goya, decorative arts and traditional costumes. Elements of vernacular robes, Renaissance garments and the regional costumes of bullfighters, flamenco dancers and fishermen all found their way into his work.
As the last
grandseigneur of fashion, he resisted commercialization and the popularization of haute couture. As other designers made concessions to mass appeal, the uncompromising Spaniard recognized that the market for the kind of luxury he offered was disappearing. He retired from the world of fashion in 1968, much to the dismay of his many admirers. Among his final projects were uniforms for the stewardesses of Air France and a wedding dress for the Duchess of Cádiz. He died four years later. Always a perfectionist, Balenciaga described his holistic approach to fashion best: “A couturier has to be an architect for the cut, a sculptor for the shape, a painter for the color, a musician for the harmony and a philosopher for the style.” <<<
The exhibition “Cristobal Balenciaga: A Retrospective” is on display at the Fashion Museum in the Munich Stadtmuseum, St. Jakobs-Platz, until January 7, 2001.
