Cristóbal Balenciaga opened his first boutique in San Sebastián, Spain, in 1919, and expanded to include branches in Madrid and Barcelona. The Spanish royal family and aristocracy wore his designs. When the Spanish Civil War forced him to close his stores, he moved to Paris.
Balenciaga opened his Paris couture house on Avenue George V in August 1937, where his first fashion show featured designs heavily influenced by the Spanish Renaissance. His success was nearly immediate. In two years, the press lauded him as a revolutionary, and his designs were highly sought-after. Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper’s Bazaar, was an early champion of his designs.
Customers risked their safety traveling to Europe during World War II to see Balenciaga’s clothing. During this period, he was noted for his “square coat”, with sleeves cut in a single piece with the yoke, and for his designs with black (or black and brown) lace over bright pink fabric.
During the post-war years, his lines became more linear and sleek, diverging from the hourglass shape popularized by “Christian Dior’s New Look”. The fluidity of his silhouettes enabled him to manipulate the relationship between his clothing and women’s bodies. In 1951, he transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist. In 1955, he designed the tunic dress, which later developed into the chemise dress of 1958. Other contributions in the postwar era included the spherical balloon jacket (1953), the high-waisted baby doll dress (1957), the cocoon coat (1957), the balloon skirt (1957), and the sack dress (1957). In 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimono. His manipulation of the waist contributed to “what is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women.”
*Source Wikipedia – Balenciaga
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