The Origins of Balenciaga

Fig 1: Model styling Balenciaga in 1955 (Fincher, 2015)

Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, and the subsequent closure of

Cristóbal Balenciaga’s boutiques in Spain; Balenciaga moved to Paris, France (Jouve, 1997a, p.5). There he set up his own couture house under the Balenciaga name. Within the year, his first Paris collection was shown to the public.

Ensuing this launch, there was an immediate recognition of Balenciaga’s talents, and the brand faced positive success throughout the war years (Jouve, 1997b, p.6). Balenciaga responded to his success throughout the 50’s by creating further innovative pieces that included the iconic Tunic dress, Cocoon coat and the Balloon Jacket (Lunia, 2020).

Fig 2: Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1968 (Bresson, 2020)

Cristóbal Balenciaga travelled to the United States and investigated the capabilities of overseas technologies and their potential use in his business (Jouve, 1997c, p.8). However, he discovered that the machines and the processes used, wouldn’t meet his brands specific standards. These standards include the characteristics of Haute Couture, of: exclusivity, high quality, custom pieces of clothing.

Thus Balenciaga ignored the growing trend of mass distribution and ready to wear fashion, due to the potential outcome of the clothes misrepresenting the brands standards and values. Cristóbal Balenciaga chose instead to focus on ‘maintaining his reputation as a courtier of the utmost luxury and elegance’ (Jouve, 1997c, p.8).

However, with the continued growth of mass distribution, combined with the civil unrest that was starting to occur in France in the 1960’s, Balenciaga felt these changes would mean luxury and elegance would be a concept of the past. Therefore, Cristóbal Balenciaga held his last Paris collection in 1968, before he retired. The house remained silent until Jacques Bogart SA bought the rights to Balenciaga (Jina Park and Koski, 2015). Following this acquisition, the brand went through two creative directors until Nicolas Ghesquière became the head of the house in 1997. Ghesquière reintroduced the brand and managed to create a Modern synthesis of Balenciaga’s historical shapes and designs (Highsnobiety, 2018).

Shortly after Ghesquière was hired, Balenciaga was bought by Kering: ‘a global Luxury group that manages a series of renowned Houses in Fashion’ (Disko, n.d.). Following this transition, Balenciaga pursued positive changes that aligned with the growth the fashion industry was facing. For instance, the brand decided to introduce its first men's ready to wear collection in 2004, after a global rise in demand for ready to wear fashion amongst men and women. This decision meant that under Ghesquière’s creative control, the brand was able to diversify its audience, making their designs desirable for a variety of individuals.

Succeeding Ghesquière’s 15 years at Balenciaga, Alexander Wang took on the role between 2012 and 2015. In this time, Wang was able to help the brand find its footing in menswear, and manifest a youthful tone into the brand as a whole (Yeung, 2015). Following Wang’s exit, the current creative director of Balenciaga: Demna Gvasalia was appointed. Gvasalia is responsible for evolving and transforming the house into the Balenciaga we know today. This has been through his strategic collaborations, and his creation of a seamless fusion between sportswear and minimalism in Balenciaga’s designs.

Balenciaga’s history illustrates a series of transformative developments that have stemmed from Cristóbal Balenciaga’s vision of the house. This vision and the succeeding developments it has inspired, have collectively built the luxury powerhouse brand that is Balenciaga.