regarded by many, including Christian Dior, as the master.

He moved to Paris form Spain in 1937 and quickly established himself as a dominant figure

A Balenciaga creation featured in Vogue, September 1953 within Parisian couture. The house produced 356 designs per year less than half of Diors production of 815, which was a mark of Balenciagas exacting standards. A big fan of opulent glamour, the Spanish designer nevertheless went the opposite direction to Dior with sleeker silhouettes and less emphasis on the waist. His tunic dress paved the way for Chanels chemise. Eventually, in 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos. His often spare, sculptural creations were considered masterworks of haute couture in the 1950s and 1960s. http://covellifashion.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/long-live-1950s-fashion

January 22, 2012

"Arbiters of fashion generally agree that Balenciaga, the son of a Basque fisherman and a seamstress, was the greatest couturier of the last century. Dior considered him the primus inter pares, and Chanel conceded that Balenciaga alone could construct a perfect garment from start to finish with his own hands, whereas everyone else was merely 'a designer.'" To comprehend his genius you could inspect the three hundred original designs he created each year from 1937 to 1968, but you'd still be lost about his legacy; or you could simply read Judith Thurman's New Yorker essay "The Absolutist," which includes the quote above and is a highlight of her brilliant Cleopatra's Nose [Kindle]. She discusses Balenciaga's business partner and greatest love, Vladzio Zawrorowski d'Attainville, as well as the benefits of being gay to Yves Saint Laurent and the current Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquire: "A sense of dislocation often hones the instincts of a gifted gay youth from the provinces... They are able to recognize a closeted seductress -- a Buuel heroine, like Belle du Jour -- and help to realize her potential for transgression." Despite his success and his unmatched status as The Master, Balenciaga suffered a series of devastations: In 1947 Dior got credit for the New Look, when Balenciaga had been showing mid-calf skirts, full bust jackets, and small waists for years; in 1948 his partner died; and over the next two decades the world edged away from couture to ready to wear. Although he triumphed time and again with his tunic dresses in 1955, his sack dresses in 1956, his pairing of tall boots with harlequin tights and shorter hemlines, and his maverick use of special fabrics like plastics for rainwear, he decided to close his business in 1968 rather than lower himself to the faster, cheaper standards mandated by ready-to-wear. Four years later he died in his native Spain. http://bandofthebes.typepad.com/bandofthebes/2012/01/born-january-21-crist%C3%B3balbalenciaga.html

Cristobal Balenciaga was born in the town of Guetaria in the Basque region of Spain on January 21, 1895. At a very early age he began his life's work in fashion at his mother's side as she worked as a seamstress. It is fabled that the Marquesa de Casa Torres, who was so taken with his talent, sent him to Madrid for formal training in tailoring when he was just a teenager. Upon graduation he became a Spanish sensation, opening branches of his boutique Eisa (named for his mother) in Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastin. The Spanish Civil War brought an end to his Spanish boutiques, so Balenciaga took it as an opportunity to move his operation to Paris and very soon after, he was the toast of the town. Balenciaga's designs were more often than not, linear and streamlined. While Fath and Dior produced curvy confections know as "The New Look", Balenciaga created forms that hovered around the body in fluid lines. Balenciaga achieved what is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women. Balenciaga died on March 24, 1972, in Spain. The clothing he produced is still relevant in todays fashion, and his work is highly sought after and collected. http://www.swankvintage.com/balenciaga.html

Cristobal Balenciaga - A Fashion Legend

Cristobal Balenciaga we already know is one of the most noted fashion designers to come around in the 20th Century. His Spanish sense of style opened the floodgates for all women all around who praised elegance and structured designs. He is a couturier in all sense of the word. Also judging by the photo opt above, it looks like Balenciaga wasn't shy to wear his best and look top-notch when it came to his own styling. http://itsnotyouitsmesite.blogspot.com/2011/04/cristobal-balenciaga-fashionlegend.html

Cristobal Balenciaga Master of the Tailors

Vintage Histories

by jessica Cristobal Balenciagas name was just as well known in Paris in the late 1940s as Christian Dior, although Balenciaga was in fact from the Basque country and only moved to Paris in 1937 exactly ten years before Diors New Look arrived on the scene. His mother was a seamstress and he took a very early interest into her profession. When he was still very young, he made a copy of a suit worn by Marquesa de Casa Torres, a Spanish noble woman in his town. She was so impressed with his skill, she became his benefactor and got him his first apprenticeship with a well known tailor when his father passed away, aged 11. (I have a book that says he was 11, Ive read some other contradictory articles,stating 14 to 16, so who knows) He was very similar to Charles Fredrick Worth, in that he worked his way up to the top and had many years experience under his belt by the time he opened up his first fashion house in Sans Sebastian in 1918. He later opened 2 more locations, one in Madrid and another in Barcelona, before being forced to shut due to the Spanish civil war in 1936. He left for London, but eventually settled in Paris, in 1937. His first runway collection was an immediate success and within 2 years he was being hailed as revolutionary in the press. His genius was in his exceptional skill as a tailor, studying from such a a young age, and continuing to research new techniques as they came along, instead of sticking to the more traditional methods. He was one of the few designers, to not only sketch his designs, but to over see all of the developing stages and it was not unusual for him to go to over 100 fittings a day. Unlike Dior, he did not use framework underneath his dresses, (corsets, girdles etc) instead he relied on the structure of the dress itself only using a bit of interfacing when necessary. Balenciaga was an intensely private person. He did not give lectures or interviews and his studios and fashion shows were both extremely quiet. Apparently he watched his shows from behind a white curtain and there was very few who actually knew him. He closed his house in 1968, after 30 years in Paris. It was relaunched in 1987 by the same person who owned the company from his death, Jacques Bogart.The company continued to trade well and is one of the most well known and loved brands in the world.The Gucci Group took the majority of the shares in 2001, no doubt driving the success even higher.

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Cristbal Balenciaga

Cristbal Balenciaga nace en 1895 en Getaria (Gipuzkoa), el 21 de enero. El gran maestro de la Alta Costura conoci desde la infancia los entresijos de la creacin textil, ya que su madre trabajaba como modista. En 1911 se establece en San Sebastin y paralelamente empieza a trabajar como jefe de taller del Pegasin du Luvre. En 1915 abre su primera casa de costura en San Sebastin, con el nombre de Balenciaga, cuya primera filial madrilea vera la luz en 1921. En su taller de San Sebastin, Balenciaga se dedica a adaptar patrones llegados de Pars, tarea muy habitual entre los sastres de la poca. La apertura de la tienda madrilea supuso el primer paso hacia su reconocimiento en Espaa, un xito que muy pronto se trasladara ms all de nuestras fronteras. En 1937 el diseador abre su primer taller en Pars, en la avenida George V, y ese mismo ao presenta su primera coleccin parisina. Empieza as una trayectoria creadora repleta de colecciones que huyen de la ostentacin, con creaciones que han superado con exquisitez el paso del tiempo y que anan con elegancia el glamour parisino con la tradicin espaola. Cristbal Balenciaga fue un maestro de las formas elegantes y perfectamente estructuradas. Por su taller parisino pasaron ilustres aspirantes a diseadores, como Hubert de Givenchy, Andr Courrges, Oscar de la Renta o Emmanuel Ungaro, entre otros. Establecido su taller en Pars, pronto se hacen conocidas sus prendas con reminiscencias del Segundo Imperio, de cortes de mangas con canes cuadrado. En torno a 1940, Balenciaga inventa los sombreros realizados con cabellos a base de largas trenzas postizas. Para ello es decisiva la colaboracin del peluquero Guillaume. Tambin en esta poca idea el ya clsico petite robe noire, de busto ajustado y revisitado con devocin por otros creadores en pocas posteriores. Los primeros aos de la dcada de los cuarenta son los de las chaquetas alargadas y las faldas acampanadas, que a veces se sustituan por faldas-pantalones. En torno a 1947 Balenciaga crea la lnea Cocon y rinde homenaje a su origen espaol con sus boleros toreador bordados para la noche. La inspiracin espaola llega tambin a los vestidos. Su primera incursin en el mundo del perfume es en 1948, con la creacin de la fragancia Fuites des Heures o Fleeting moment. Siempre marcando poca, inicia los aos cincuenta con colecciones de trajes sastre entallados, abrigos vaporosos o rectos (en ocasiones sin cuello) y mangas abombadas. Los vestidos se acortan y los abrigos se coronan con amplios cuellos. Avanzada la dcada, propone tnicas prs du corps en lino o encaje y escotes despejados. Para la noche, vestidos de baile al tobillo con variados efectos de dobladillo. En 1955 lanza el perfume Quadrille. Un ao ms tarde, en 1956, Balenciaga presenta el primer sac en tweed. Busca los efectos de dobles faldas y promueve los baby dolls en encaje o seda que tanto glamour aportan los cincuenta. Durante los ltimos aos de la dcada vuelve a los talles muy altos y apuesta por los abrigos rectos a menudo sin cuello, las chaquetas cortas y los vestidos ceidos en la cintura. Los vestidos-saco siguen siendo clave en sus colecciones de estos aos. El regreso del talle imperio se hace evidente al final de la dcada, sobre todo en los vestidos de noche, que en muchas ocasiones presentan asimietras en el corte. Los abrigos rectos dejan paso a otros muy voluminosos y a las chaquetillas cortas de forma box, con sisas de estilo kimono, corte al bies, formas ablusadas, cinturas holgadas y talles altos. 1960 es un ao importante en la trayectoria de Balenciaga, cuando su buen hacer se institucionaliza con la confeccin del vestido de novia de Fabiola, Reina de Blgica. La dcada comienza con marcadas influencias del arte, concretamente de Zurbarn, que queda patente en sus caracos o boleros bordados para la noche. A medida que avanza la dcada, Balenciaga se decanta por los conjuntos deportivos en tweed grueso o a cuadros, los abrigos-capa, las mangas murcilago y los mohairs transparentes de Ascher. Esta tendencia deportiva se manifiesta a mediados de la dcada

en la creacin de los primeros impermeables transparentes en material plstico. Los estampados brillantes y los lams tupidos a relieve marcan su apuesta para estos aos. Su ltima coleccin se presenta en 1968, marcada por las chaquetas largas para los trajes de sastre o las faldas ms cortas, las rayas horizontales, tnicas de encaje guipure y vestidos tubo de crpe. Es una coleccin en la que Balenciaga se decanta abiertamente por el color. Son aos de conmociones polticas y sociales, que llevan a Cristbal Balenciaga a cerrar su taller y a retirarse en silencio, como siempre haba vivido. Apenas se difundieron fotografas del diseador durante sus aos de xito, ni posteriormente. En 1971 llega su nuevo perfume, Ho Hang. Cristbal Balenciaga muere en Jvea, en la provincia de Alicante, el 24 de marzo de 1972. Es enterrado en Getaria, su pueblo natal. De l se ha dicho que fue el Picasso de la moda y el Mozart de la costura. Coco Chanel y Christian Dior alabaron su gran talento y arte para la costura. Sus creaciones se conservan hoy en museos y colecciones privadas, siendo fundamental la labor emprendida por la Fundacin Balenciaga, que difunde, promueve y potencia da a da la trascendencia de la figura de Cristbal Balenciaga. En la actualidad el diseador de la firma Balenciaga, con sede en Pars, es Nicolas Ghesquire, un joven creador cuyo deslumbrante trabajo est pensado para mujeres reales del mundo real, segn sus propias propias palabras.

www.fashionfromspain.com Cristbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (Guetaria, Guipzcoa, 21 de enero de 1895 - Valencia, 23 de marzo de 1972), ms conocido simplemente como Balenciaga, fue un prestigioso diseador de moda espaol, considerado el creador del arte de la alta costura, que desempe su trabajo principalmente en la ciudad de Pars durante ms de tres dcadas. Contemporneo de Coco Chanel y Christian Dior, es el modisto de alta costura espaol ms importante de la historia.1

[editar] Biografa
Naci en la pequea localidad de Guetaria, en el Pas Vasco, en el seno de una familia humilde y muy catlica. Su padre era un pescador y su madre, una costurera. Desde pequeo soaba con ser modisto y en sus ratos libres dibujaba los grandes diseos que vea. A los trece aos, la Marquesa de Casa Torre, que veraneaba en Guetaria, se sinti conmovida ante las ansias que tena el joven por aprender el oficio de la moda, y decidi plantearle un reto. Le entreg un trozo de tela junto a uno de sus ms exclusivos vestidos, con el objetivo de que l lo copiara y demostrara su talento. El resultado content tanto a la marquesa, que de ah en adelante se convirti en su mecenas. Tras unos aos de incipiente xito, Balenciaga abri una tienda en San Sebastin, en 1914,2 que se expandira hacia Madrid y Barcelona.3 La Familia Real Espaola y la aristocracia llevaban sus diseos. Cuando estall la Guerra Civil Espaola se vio forzado a cerrar sus tiendas, y se traslad a Pars.2 3 Balenciaga abri su taller parisino en la Avenida George V en agosto de 1937.3 Impuso un estilo totalmente innovador presentando una lnea de hombros cados, cintura pinzada y caderas redondas. Es a partir de los aos 50 cuando empieza a ser reconocido y despliega toda su creatividad.

Al contrario que muchos diseadores, que abocetaban sus creaciones pero no las confeccionaban, Cristbal Balenciaga tuvo un pleno dominio de la costura y del manejo de tejidos. Coco Chanel lleg a afirmar:

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