PROFILE

Cristóbal Balenciaga was born on 21 January 1895 in Getaria (Gipuzkoa). This maestro of haute couture had been familiar with textile design since his early childhood, as his mother was a dressmaker. In 1911 he moved to San Sebastián and began to work as the head of the Pegasin du Luvre workshop. In 1915 he opened his first couture house in San Sebastián, under the name of Balenciaga, which was followed by the first Madrid-based subsidiary company in 1921. At his San Sebastián workshop, Balenciaga adapted the designs that arrived from Paris, a normal practice amongst the tailors of the day. The opening of his Madrid store represented the first step on the road to success in Spanish fashion for Balenciaga, success that would soon extend outside Spain.

In 1937 the designer opened his first Paris workshop, situated on Avenue George V, and that same year he presented his first Paris collection, marking the start of a highly successful career. His creations always avoided ostentation, acquiring a timeless quality, combining Parisian glamour with Spanish tradition. Cristóbal Balenciaga was a master of elegance and perfectly structured forms. A number of young hopefuls passed through his workshops who would go on to become famous designers, including Hubert de Givenchy, André Courrèges, Oscar de la Renta or Emmanuel Ungaro.

Having set up his workshop in Paris, his designs, reminiscent of the Second Empire with their square yoke cut, soon became famous. Around 1940, Balenciaga, in collaboration with the coiffeur Guillaume invented hats made with long false plaits. It was also during this time that he came up with the idea of the little black dress, with its tight-fitting top and that was to be fondly reinvented by other designers in the years to come. In the early 1940s his designs were characterised by long jackets and full skirts, which were sometimes replaced with culottes.

Around 1947 Balenciaga created the Cocon line as a tribute to his Spanish origin, characterised by the short embroidered bullfighter jackets for evening wear. The Spanish influence was also present in his dresses. His first venture into the world of perfumes and fragrances came in 1948, with the creation of the fragrance Fuites des Heures or Fleeting moment. For ever the trend-setter, in the early fifties he designed collections of figure-hugging suits, sheer or straight cut coats (occasionally without collars) and full sleeves. Dress lengths became shorter and overcoats were finished off with wide collars. As the decade progressed, his proposals included linen or lace tunics and clean-cut necklines. For evening wear, he designed ankle-length gowns with various effects at the hem. In 1955 he launched his perfume Quadrille.

A year later, in 1956, Balenciaga presented the first sac en tweed. He made use of the double skirt effect and promoted baby dolls in lace and silk that made the fifties a truly glamorous decade. By the end of the decade he had returned to high-waisted garments and straight collarless coats, short jackets and dresses that nipped the waist. The sac dresses would continue to be the trademark of his collections during these years.

The return to the Imperial style dress was firmly established by the end of the decade, particularly in his evening wear collections, which were often asymmetrical. The straight coats gave way to far fuller designs and short loose-fitting high-waisted box jackets, with kimono-style sleeves and bias cuts.

1960 marked an important year in Balenciaga's career, as he was chosen to design the wedding dress for Fabiola, the Queen of Belgium, earning him widespread recognition. At the beginning of the decade he was clearly influenced by art trends, and in particular by Zurbarán, as can clearly be seen in his short embroidered evening jackets. As the decade progressed, Balenciaga favours casual outfits in thick tweeds and checks, capes, batwing sleeves and transparent Ascher mohair. This more casual look continues towards the middle of the decade with his first transparent plastic raincoats. Bright patterns and closely-woven lamé also characterise his designs during these years.

He presented his last collection in 1968, which was characterised by long tailored jackets and shorter skirts with horizontal stripes, guipure lace tunics and crêpe tube dresses. In this collection Balenciaga emphasised the use of colour. The highly unstable political and social situation of these years led Cristóbal Balenciaga to close his workshops and retire in the discrete manner in which he had always lived his life. Few photographs exist of this designer, even during his most successful years. In 1971 he created a new perfume, Ho Hang.

Cristóbal Balenciaga died in Jávea, in the Spanish province of Alicante, on 24 March 1972. He is buried in Getaria, the town of his birth. He has been called the Picasso of fashion and the Mozart of couture. Coco Chanel and Christian Dior acclaimed his tremendous talent and skill for couture. Today his creations are on display in museums and private collections. The Balenciaga Foundation has done much to promote the importance of the figure of Cristóbal Balenciaga. The current designer for the Paris-based House of Balenciaga is Nicolas Ghesquière, a young creator whose exceptional designs are created for real women in the real world, as he himself



MY EXPERIENCE OF QUADRILLE

Your first love, your first KISS , your first memory.....how well we remember  BUT combine the three with the FIRST man to introduce you to the most exoctic, lustful perfume on the PLANET and you have a memory for life. QUADRILLE...MICHAEL....thanks for the memory.

Like you, no longer available...... but the memory lingers on.