Happy Birthday Cristobal Balenciaga!

One of my favorite old fashion houses, the mexican couture genious would be celebrating his 112th birthday today.

I bought an interesting italian magazine (which also has each article printed in english after italian) called MUSE. This issue for Fall 2006 (they produce only 4 issues per year) features extremely artistic photoshoots, lovely detailted articles, and makes fashion a great art, an idea that most magazines have taken away.

In the Musee De La Mode Et Du Textile in Paris, an exhibit entitled "Balenciaga Paris" will show many collective pieces until the 28th of January, so if you're lucky enough to be there at that time, visit and take pictures!


"Undoubtedly the master of architectural creations and the king of perfect proportions, but who was the man beneath Balenciaga's tailoring genious? We can create a vague outline through the very fragmentary data available and in the comments of those who met this Spainiard, since he chose never to abandon his right to privacy. His father a fisherman and his mother a tailor, Cristobal Balenciaga was born on the 21st of January 1895 in Guetaria. Amazed by the Parisian elegance of Lady Marquise de Torres, young Cristobal uncoveres his destiny, adn at the age of 12, strong of his mother's teaching, he creates his first dress... In 1936 the civil war starts, and Balenciaga being totally uninterested in politics chooses Paris as his refuge. Noblewomen and celebrities arrive from all over and ther isn't one that doesn't want a Balenciaga creation, even though he is the most expensive designer in Paris...Then the sixties when fashion is revolutionized...The master returns to Spain in 1968 where he passes away four years later. This is all that is written on Cristobal Balenciaga Esageri. No gossip, no spicy details, no relationships, no photos of family or summer houses. What remains is the myth, the mystery, and the respect for the personnage famous for his work, his trade, and nothing else." (MODE, number 5, Fall 2006, pg. 88-89)

Coco Chanel, who of Dior said "He uphosters chairs, he doesn't dress women" considers Balenciaga "the only true tailor because he is the only one to be able to cut a piece of fabric properly, give it a structure, and hand sew it".

In 1998 Nicolas Ghesquiere took over the Balenciaga Maison and has never dissapointed since.