I’ve been spending a lot of time recently diving into 1950s fashion and one of the top designers of this decade was Balenciaga. Cristóbal Balenciaga was a Spanish designer born in 1895. As we talked about earlier, Balenciaga was an inspiration to many, including Hubert de Givenchy.

His background proved an advantage for him as his mother was a seamstress and he was able to start assisting in the field at the age of 12. In 1917, Balenciaga established his first fashion house. It was named Eisa which is a shortened version of his mother’s maiden name “Eizaguirre,” however, this word is also sometimes used to refer to an evening gown. In the decades following, he opened fashion houses in Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris. In 1947, he released his first perfume known as Le Dix. 

Unlike other designers, Balenciaga often started with the fabric rather than a sketch of a design. He also took inspiration from Spanish heritage including traditions and paintings. He was a key player in the “golden age of couture” which took place in the 1950s. He was a pioneer in new styles and shapes in fashion. He created something called a balloon hem which had an airy look to it. In 1957, he created a design he is quite famous for, the sack dress. It was unlike the waist snatching designs of his time. Originally, the design was hated by many, but by the 60s, many had adopted it into their wardrobe. A design that was loved by the press, but only actually purchased twice, was the envelope dress. The dress was almost an upside down square pyramid with four corners around the top.  

Balenciaga dressed celebrities including Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner, and Mon von Bismark. He was beloved by many for his unique style and status-quo defying looks. With this being said, it shocked many when he closed the house in 1968. He passed away four years later in 1972.

The house experienced an absence until 1986 when it was bought by the Jacques Bogart group and Michel Goma was made the Creative Director. The second re-launch occurred in 1997, Nicolas Ghesquière was then appointed as Creative Director. The current Creative Director is Demna Gvasalia who announced in 2020 that the brand was bringing about a haute couture line after 53 years.

Till next Sunday,

Daisy