Balenciaga Most Desired Items
- Posted by: angeli.krohmal
The fashion house of Balenciaga, founded just over a century ago, is now a coveted and cutting edge in the world of extravagant fashion looks. Cristobal Balenciaga was one of the few truly educated designers of those times who knew exactly how to create clothes according to technical parameters, who was able to sew and cut.
The Balenciaga brand has one of the most volatile histories of existence and development in the fashion world. In a way it stands apart from the rest of the fashion Olympus, but on the other hand it can be called a "gray cardinal" - like its founder in the last century, today the brand brings really new ideas and becomes a pioneer in various trends. Let's go back to the roots and take a detailed look at the whole transformation of the brand, and understand why exactly Balenciaga became such a unique fashion house.
Cristobal Balenciaga was born in Spain (then Baskonia) in 1895. His mother was a personal seamstress of an aristocrat, so little Cristobal already from childhood observed how clothes are created. He had to help his mother already at the age of 11, because the father of the family died. Even then, his mother's clients began to notice the boy's potential and ability to create clothes and encouraged him to continue learning to sew professionally. At just 12 years old, Cristobal went to Madrid to learn the basics of sewing.
The young man successfully worked for several years as an apprentice and master in several ateliers in Madrid and San Sebastian. He learned the basics of cutting and sewing, knew how to choose the right style, compare fabrics - we can say that Balenciaga received a higher education in the field of sewing. And having gained experience he opened his first workshop in 1919. Even then the young genius sewed clothes for the aristocracy and members of the royal family.
Balenciaga was an innovator. Just at the time of his active work, women's silhouettes began to change fundamentally and Cristobal was revolutionizing the fashion world. His vision differed from everything that women wore then, he advocated not only for beauty, but also for comfort. The couturier attached great importance to both new fabrics for products and their shapes. This is how the first models of clothes without a certain size appeared - the ancestors of the oversize style. The world society was undergoing a revolutionary transformation, and fashion along with it. Balenciaga did not purposely seek to shock fashionable society with a new vision of clothing, but wanted to bring more comfort to the outfits, based on a classically correct approach to tailoring. This is how cocoon coats and sack or trapeze shaped dresses came about. The idea of "freeing" women from too tight styles was not understood at first, because at that time the super-thin waist was still in fashion, thanks to which the emphasized feminine style of Christian Dior's New Look was very popular. But the created shirt-dresses and the prevailing trapezoidal shapes quickly took root in the closets of fashionistas.
By the mid-30s of the 20th century the couturier already had several ateliers around the country, but unfortunately the Spanish Civil War broke out. Cristobal had to move to France, where he opened a new workshop and boutique in Paris. There he began to dress the French elite and got acquainted with many famous designers of that time (who, by the way, had already heard about him and admired his work). The famous Coco Chanel considered him the only real couturier, not just a man drawing sketches.
The fame of Balenciaga and his fashion solutions steadily spread throughout Europe, and soon he even gained popularity in the New World. For 30 years he dressed royal families, presidents and first ladies of different countries, Hollywood stars and aristocracy. He created uniforms for Air France stewardesses. However, in the late 60's, the couturier was hit by a crisis and he decided to close his brand, he had the opinion that the fashion world was fading away. It became a real tragedy for his regular customers, but the maestro was adamant. The last ingenious creation of the master's hand was a wedding dress for the future Duchess Franco.
Cristóbal Balenciaga was a true introvert. He had little contact with people and especially the press outside his ateliers and did not seek to create what we would call today a "personal brand". British fashion photographer Cecil Beaton referred to the couturier as the Picasso of fashion and he was right to look at the legacy Cristobal left behind. Many of his original styles would look extremely modern today.
Historical fact: the famous designer Oscar de la Renta started his way into the world of high fashion from the position of a draftsman in Balenciaga's atelier. Today, the Balenciaga house continues to surprise the fashion public with unusual and bold solutions. What you should have in your closet from Balenciaga - explore here.
What came after...?
The genius couturier passed away in 1972 and the fashion house ceased to operate for a full 15 years. In 1986, an outside company made an attempt to restore the brand, but did not succeed, although it actively worked on the revival for about 10 years. Luck came to the brand only with the arrival of Nicolas Ghesquière in 1997. The fashion designer brought the idea to "rejuvenate" the brand, creating collections for young people. New generations of fashionistas became loyal to the brand. However, after the Balenciaga brand was bought by the Kering concern, the problems did not end. The management considered the popularity of the brand's things not enough and decided to change the creative director.
American Alexander Wang became Balenciaga's new designer. At that time, the young designer already had his own personal fashion house, whose main theme of clothing was street aesthetics. Balenciaga's owners decided to continue to emphasize the most modern fashion solutions. Wang was faced with the daunting task of continuing to add unusual modern touches to the already more classic direction with minimalism and geometric shapes. Critics were skeptical, but the designer managed to exceed their expectations. Even the famous Anna Wintour spoke positively about the new collections under Alexander's leadership. The fashion house drew the attention of many celebrities, and sales grew steadily. But the joint work did not last long.
After only 3 years, Alexander Wang left Balenciaga. He was replaced by Demna Gvasalia, already an experienced designer with very unusual tastes. Demna worked at Maison Margiela and is the owner of his own brand Vetements. Balenciaga was waiting for an impressive era of global change.
Demna Gvasalia has far from couture views on the world of fashion. This can be seen in the creations of his own brand. Therefore, critics and owners of the Balenciaga brand at first thought that this venture was a failure. But still Demna got a place as a designer and engaged in a complete change of aesthetics. In a way, it can be said that he maximized the ideas of Cristobal and Alexander Wang. At the same time, the designer with Georgian roots never pursued the goal of copying his colleagues. Demna immediately started experimenting with shapes and styles. In addition, he noticed the trend for huge logos and layering in one outfit. It can be said that the founder of the brand was right - fashion had changed dramatically, and not in the direction Cristobal wanted. His fears were justified, but the era has changed and these innovations turned out to be successful and demanded by modern society.
Demna Gvasalia, like Cristobal once did, follows the concept of practicality in clothing. This is where the brand and its creative designers differ from the rest - Balenciaga creates really high-quality, progressive and unique clothes that can be worn every day and do not look like an exhibit in an art museum. At the same time, the brand is associated with the word luxury among consumers. In addition, it has become really young and modern. In addition, Demna believes that it is the clothes that should be the main thing in the brand, so he pays little attention to accessories, although they are also in the collections.
A successful and very famous example is the creation of the brand's first sneakers. Since the first appearance of the Triple S model several years have passed, they still remain desirable, because they became pioneers in the world of shoes that can not be called beautiful in the classic sense. Today, the term ugly shoes has become an everyday term for us and credit goes to the Balenciaga brand.
Today, the brand is inspired by the practical things of everyday life and recreates them in a premium quality. It was this approach that initially caused critics to whisper disapprovingly backstage after Balenciaga's fashion shows. However, there is a charm and a reference to the brand's origins - as we remember, Cristobal came from a poor family. Today's designer of the brand has a similar family history - he comes from a large family. It is the fact that Demna wore his older brothers' clothes as a child that explains the large number of oversize clothing models. As we already know - the world community liked the trend very much and now we can't imagine ourselves in everyday clothes with tight styles.
Yes, the Balenciaga brand has earned scandalous fame. Many people truly believe that it is not high fashion. However, trendsetters continue to buy up the fashion house's novelties, and A-list stars and many fashion critics come to the shows, who are already evaluating "classic" fashion brands on the same level.
The Balenciaga brand stands for outstanding solutions and comfort in the latest fashion trends, backed by a historical background of quality and the right technological approach.