Balenciaga
Cristóbal Balenciaga Eisaguirre was born in Getaria, Spain, in 1895. At the age of 24 he openend his first shop which became immediately very well known.
His style was innovatory, he played with proportions no one else did at that time. He worked a lot with volume and draperies with different kind of fabrics. The silhouette Balenciaga choose for his designs could be recognized very quickly by the hourglass figure. He didn’t use a lot of colors or prints, the only print he often used was the polkadot.
Around 1951 he completely transformed his designs, he stopped with the waists and layers but came up with the well-known tunic dresses. And that is also what made him famous, by manipulating the waist he contributed to “what is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women.” Balenciaga died in 1972.
Did you know that Emanual Ungaro and Oscar de la Renta first learned their skills of Balenciaga before starting their own labels? Even Christian Dior called ‘master of us all’, the biggest compliment you can get. Balenciaga's current Creative Director is Alexander Wang.
An interesting fact that few may know about is; Balenciaga designed the clothing for french athletes for the 1992 Olympic Summer Games. Balenciaga is now known mainly for their fine leather goods, especially the classic Motorcycle bag and Motorcycle leather jackets.
