January 27, 2018
Discover the talent of Cristóbal Balenciaga thanks to Google Arts & Culture
Thanks to Google Ars & Culture we discovered the impressive legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga that continues to inspire emerging designers today.
Haute Couture in the middle decades of the 20th century was the ultimate expression of a luxurious and specifically feminine experience. A world of exclusivity and exquisiteness around the creations, designed by the couturiers and made by artisan methods, the codes of etiquette, which mark the purchasing process, and the social contexts in which creations and clients are exhibited. Cristóbal Balenciaga is considered the master of haute couture and his contribution serves as a final point of reference.
Cristóbal Balenciaga revolutionized the concept of clothing and the female silhouette. For him, perfection was an obligation and his extraordinary technical skills made the task easier. As a result of his innovative personality, he sought greater simplicity and purity of form. He was acclaimed by fashion designer Coco Chanel as “the only authentic couturier among us, capable of designing, cutting, assembling and sewing a dress from beginning to end”.
Cristóbal Balenciaga deserves the title of “El Maestro” due to the perfection of his creations and his ability to get ahead of his time, creating a new technical and visual language for the female silhouette. His work has withstood the test of time and is even more relevant today.
Luxury means different things to different people: uniqueness, exclusivity, declaration of social status … in the haute couture world of the Balenciaga maison meant also having access to elegance, self-confidence and the enhancement of the figure without giving up comfort or functionality. All this worked through a careful choice of fabric, cut and design.
The clients of Balenciaga were women of high social level: great fortunes of the financial and industrial world, aristocrats, artists, intellectuals and diplomats. A social elite that gives great importance to their costumes as an external symbol of their personality, status and lifestyle, following and even sometimes creating the dress codes that governed most social interactions.
Discover Balenciaga’s Legacy here.