Coco Chanel called him the only true couturier, he was also truly admired by others of his contemporaries, including Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy.
Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972) who died 50 years ago was one of the most innovative fashion designers of 20th century and several museums around the world commemorate this anniversary by presenting exhibitions on his work and talent. The Kunstmuseum in The Hague is one of them. Since last Saturday long awaited exhibition Balenciaga in Black is on show there featuring spectacular designs in his most favourite colour – black. https://www.kunstmuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/balenciaga-black
The exhibition is curated by Madelief Hohé and it will last till Sunday, 5th March 2023. Over 100 pieces including clothes, hats, jewelry and sketches are on display there, courtesy of Palais Galliera, Paris and Maison Balenciaga.
It starts with simple chronology board facilitating to put his legacy in historical context, marking the appearance of his most iconic designs such as balloon dress (1953), sack dress (1957) or baby doll dress (1958).
Firstly, the exhibition explains designer’s relationship with the colour black, rooted deeply in Spanish identity and history. It was the colour of Spanish struggle for the independence from French dominance in 19th century. Black was also the favourite, if not the only colour of the Spanish royal court in 16th and 17th century influencing fashion in other European countries. Not to mention that black is a main ingredient of Spanish national costume, and it has strong connotations with Catholicism which in the times of Balenciaga was still one of the main factors shaping social life in Spain.
On practical level choosing black enabled him to focus on shape, form, and volume in creating which he was a master.
A large number of beautiful sketches and samples reveal his approach to garments’ construction and give visitors a rare glimpse into Balenciaga’s meticulous precision and techniques.
Balenciaga was certainly ahead of his times, often seen by his contemporaries as eccentric with a touch of genius. Why? To start with, unlike the other celebrity designers he insisted to show his collections a month later than the date indicated by Chambre Syndicale fearing that he might be immediately copied.
Although his strong position as a couturier was already well established by late 1920s it seems that his creative potential fully developed after WWII. His iconic balloon dress (1950) looks like an antithesis of Christian Dior’s New Look. While Dior built his collection on very traditional female silhouette with strongly accentuated, narrow waist, wide hips and matching sized chest, Balenciaga ignored the waist entirely. Moreover, his outfits often did not reflect the shape of female body at all and were more often “fixed” on the shoulders rather than on waist and hips.
It was a radical idea and initially it took a bit of courage to wear Balenciaga but since his cutting skills, sense of proportion and fabric choice were perfect, the final effect was always very elegant. The circle of his clients was steadily growing and soon included Pauline de Rotschild, Barbara Rockefeller and Ava Gardner. Unsurprisingly, a lot of them were matured women who welcomed the idea of skipping the waist and natural curves in favour of innovative cut, shape, and volume. However, regardless of his modern approach he often reached to the past for inspiration referring to Baroque or Empire dresses.
The exhibition in the Kunstmuseum presents evening and cocktail dresses, coats, jackets and capes, made of silk taffeta, wool, lace, tulle or jacquard. Their structural character and richness left me with just one regret – that I could not touch them.
The way the exhibition is arranged clearly shows Balenciaga’s artistic path, from a designer who tastefully dressed historical silhouettes in slightly more modern clothing to a fashion creator challenging social and cultural norms, reinterpreting female body and not afraid to introduce fashion to the abstract design so popular in 1960s.
Once the phenomenon of fashion is seen as a tool of visual communication, which I strongly believe it is, Balenciaga’s radically different designs can be interpreted as an illustration of growing emancipation of women after WWII.
The end of his career was equally unconventional. In 1968 when many Parisian couturiers agreed to prepare separate collection for pret-a-porter shows, Balenciaga was outraged. He closed his atelier saying There is no one else left to dress!
Balenciaga in Black will be a fascinating experience not only for fashion history enthusiasts but equally so for people interested or professionally involved in master tailoring as it provides unique opportunity to have a close look at the tricks, techniques and approaches applied in his workshop.
His designs are timeless, chic and loved by women across the globe. It is not surprising. This powerful quote from Balenciaga included in the comments to the exhibition is very meaningful and honestly, I think it should be taught as a dogma in fashion design schools: A woman has no need to be perfect or even beautiful to wear my dresses, the dress will do all that for her.