Revered among couturiers as the “designer’s designer,” Cristóbal Balenciaga was famous for keeping a low profile – in the span of over 50 years, he granted
only one full interview, to the London Times in 1971. “Nobody knows what a hard
métier it is, how killing is the work under all this luxury and glamour,” he
said. One-hundred years after the designer opened his first dressmaking
business, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is now showcasing more than
100 of his influential designs in the exhibition “Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion,”
opening May 27, with an accompanying photography book out today.
As a pioneering designer of the 20th century, Balenciaga helped shape contemporary fashion with a deft eye for style that still resonates in
present-day wear, like the shift dress and the tunic coat. Years ago, with the
help of the late fashion photographer Cecil Beaton, the V&A began to acquire
his garments and designs. Beaton, an admirer and supporter who helped introduce
Balenciaga to the London museum curators, once said: “If Dior is the Watteau of
dressmaking – full of nuance, chic, delicate, and timely – then Balenciaga is
fashion’s Picasso.”
The designer’s Spanish roots continued to influence his work even after he fled the country, following the fall of the Spanish monarchy in 1931. Spanish
folklore consistently appeared in his designs, inspired by bullfighting rings
and Flamenco dancers (see a Flamenco-style evening dress in the slideshow
ahead). The book, published by V&A Publishing, traces Balenciaga’s influence
among 20th-century contemporaries and disciples, like Hubert de Givenchy, as
well as his successors amid political unrest in Spain and the commercialization
of brands after WWII (Balenciaga refused to partake in the same materialism).
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