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Cristóbal Balenciaga - Spain's Fashion Master


Cristóbal Balenciaga

Culturally, right now is a good time to be Spanish. The beautiful Latin country that captured the heart of Hemingway currently boasts the best football team in the world, dominant forces in tennis and motor racing, a reigning Hollywood power couple in Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, and an achingly cool music scene led by electro quartet Delorean and indie maverick El Guincho, that has got hipsters the world over in a state of rabid excitement.
But though Spain’s star on the world stage may be bright, fashion is one area in which it doesn’t immediately come to mind. Paris, Milan, Antwerp, London and New York have long held a monopoly on the world of style, but what is often forgotten is that one of history’s most iconic couturiers, the man described by Christian Dior as ‘the master of us all’, came from Spain’s Basque region and there developed a design aesthetic that would go on to shape the industry for decades to come.
 Fans of the designer Cristóbal Balenciaga aren’t just about to be treated to a retrospective of the great man’s work, they’ll also be able to see just how influenced his designs were by his homeland, with the opening of the exhibition Balenciaga: Spanish Master at New York’s Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, which is showing previously unseen designs of his, alongside classic pieces from his work.


Balenciaga Infanta Dress 1939


Hailed as ‘fashion’s Picasso’ by the photographer and diarist Cecil Beaton, Balenciaga was born in 1895, and never gave an interview throughout his forty year career. He started out in the 1920’s, when the Spanish Government had instigated a movement in the promotion of Flamenco dancing, so it was a natural source of inspiration for him. He flourished in his native country, designing for royalty, before the Spanish Civil war forced him to flee his homeland in 1937 and set up his fashion house in Paris. In the French capital he became a success, with his elegant but dramatic look allegedly inspiring Dior to create the ‘New Look’. He stayed there until his retirement in 1968, when he returned to his homeland, and remained there till his death in 1972, effectively killing off the brand until its reputation was revived by Nicholas Ghesquière' in 1997.


Flamenco Dress 1951 and evening ensemble 1946

The exhibit focuses on examples of the couturier’s most typically Spanish designs, such as his flamenco inspired gowns, fichu stoles, and matador style hats, and there are even nods to the country’s Catholic faith, in dresses influenced by nuns’ habits.
Amongst the seventy items are 1939’s famous ‘Infanta’ gown, and the 1957 wedding dress of Sonsoles Díez de Rivera, the daughter of his muse Marquesa de Llanzol.
Among the more traditional Spanish pieces is a fisherman’s blouse from 1964. Balenciaga had created his first version in 1953, it was made out of white cotton piqué and was photographed on the model Suzy Parker by Louise Dahl Wolfe, but later lost and was unable to be recovered for the exhibition.
Also on show is a four-point silk gazar dress from 1967, which illustrated the increasing abstraction and experimentation of his work and further proved Beaton’s nickname for the designer.

Evening dress 1964 and Evening Ensemble 1967

Organised by Hamish Bowles of Vogue magazine, at the suggestion of Balenciaga protégé Oscar De La Renta, the collection has come from the Balenciaga archives and from private collectors, as well as various museums.
The exhibit is set over two floors, with a separate view given to the clothes that have been inspired by the Catholic Church, such as a crimson coat and black evening dress from circa 1939 that appears to have been based on a priest’s Cassock.
For added Latin atmosphere the exhibit also features reproductions of José Ortiz Echagüe’s 1920-1930s pictures of regional Spanish traditions and dress, as well as references to the paintings of Goya and Velàzquez and the murals by Joaquín Sorollay y Bastida.

Balenciaga: Spanish Master, Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, 684 Park Avenue, New York 10065 will show until February 19th 2011
23-11-2010 14:39 # 3 comments - add your comment

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16-03-2011 03:02 - juicy couture

nice!

25-02-2011 01:37 - air Jordan Shoes

good

25-11-2010 13:09 - Paulo D

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Contributors


JESSIE WEISS, WRITER
Jessica Weiss is the voice behind Germany’s biggest fashion blog LesMads. Since it’s conception in 2007, Berlin based LesMads has won the prestigious ‘Lead Award’ for Best Weblog 2010. Jessica will be bringing us the latest in style news and her hot picks from farfetch.com.


TOM STUBBS, WRITER
Tom Stubbs is a stylist and writer who works for Sunday Times Style, The Rake, The Quarterly, FT How To Spend It, and Finch’s Quarterly. He also writes his own blog www.styleanderror.co.uk. Stubbs is our menswear fashion week correspondent.


INDIGO CLARKE, WRITER
Writer Indigo Clarke is Fashion Features Editor for Lula Magazine UK, Editor at Large for Oyster Magazine AUS, Contributing Features Editor for Russh Magazine AUS, Correspondent for Harper’s Bazaar AUS and also writes features for AnOther Magazine UK, Plastique Magazine UK and The Melbourne Age Newspaper. Reporting from the big apple, Indigo brings us the front row news as our New York Fashion Week correspondent.

VIOLAINE BERNARD, WRITER
Violaine is Fashion Editor of new quarterly style magazine Velour, each season she brings us the latest activity from London Fashion Week.

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