Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972) remains one of the most revered and enigmatic of fashion designers. Here, breathtaking illustrations reveal why he is renowned for exceptional tailoring, sculptural shapes, deft manipulation of textiles, and a dramatic use of color. His glamorous clientele included Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, Pauline de Rothschild, Ava Gardner, and Marlene Dietrich; many of his clients dressed almost exclusively in his designs, which were celebrated for being both easy to wear and tailored to flatter any figure. Even today, Balenciaga’s name remains synonymous with quality.

This fully revised and extended edition of Balenciaga offers a thorough examination of the Spanish-born couturier’s designs and business practice, and places him firmly in the context of the time, looking at the country in which he learned his trade and the international fashion scene in which he matured and triumphed. His perfectionism, effortless, iconic style, and the wearability of his clothes continue to influence designers today. Illustrated with archival images as well as stunning new photography, this book explores Balenciaga’s legacy in fascinating detail.

Cristobal Balenciaga's black couture dresses, capes, and coats delighted the society of his day as they changed the future of fashion. Here, lush new photography paired with archival images and sketches will delight readers in revealing the subtle tones and extraordinary detailing of the couturier's masterpieces in black.

Balenciaga in Black explores the creative genius of Cristóbal Balenciaga, "the couturier's couturier" -- the fashion designer revered by all other fashion designers. Black served as inspiration and guiding principal for the legendary dressmaker and provided a rich canvas for this extraordinary technician, allowing him to develop new textures and innovative shapes. To Balenciaga black was a vibrant material, alternately opaque or transparent, matte or shining, combined in sumptuous fabrics and undergirding the apparent simplicity of his cuts.

Pierre Even's photography of Balenciaga's masterworks, produced specifically for this catalog, capture these subtle gradations in tone and lush details with contemporary precision. Fifty pieces from the Galliera Collection and the Balenciaga archives, including daywear, cocktail dresses or evening ensembles, lined in silk taffeta, fringed with satin ribbons, jet pearls, sequins, are revealed as never before. These contemporary photographs are presented alongside historical portfolios by legendary fashion photographers Richard Avedon, Henry Clarke, and Irving Penn to form three distinct sections: Balenciaga's volumes, interplay of black and light, and combinations of black with subtle colors. Balenciaga's specific materials and shapes are further illuminated by texts, sketches, and detailed captions.

About the Author:

Olivier Saillard is one of fashion's premier historians and curators. He has curated some of the most innovative and exclusive fashion exhibitions at the Musée de la Mode in Paris and Marseille, the Musée Bordelle and the Victoria & Albert museum in London.
Pierre Even, a French photographer trained at the National School of Photography in Arles, quickly became known for his black and white portraits. In 2014, he published Eden (Editions Kehrer), whose photographs were also the subject of an exhibition at the Consortium in Dijon (October 2014-January 2015).

This unprecedented volume accompanies the first exhibition to consider the impact of Spain’s culture, history, and art on one of its greatest designers of the twentieth century, the legendary Balenciaga. Hailed as "Fashion’s Picasso" by Cecil Beaton, Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972) created an innovative oeuvre that transformed the way women dressed. From the opening of his Paris fashion house in 1937 until his retirement in 1968, Balenciaga’s visionary, ever-evolving designs and impeccable standards seduced generations of the most iconic, best-dressed women in the world, including the Duchess of Windsor, Gloria Guinness, Pauline de Rothschild, Mona Bismarck, Princess Grace of Monaco, Doris Duke, Diana Vreeland, and Queen Fabiola of Belgium. For Diana Vreeland, the designer’s "inspiration came from the bullrings, the flamenco dancers, the loose blouses the fishermen wear, the cool of the cloisters." Exploring the profound and enduring influence of Balenciaga’s native country on his work, this book considers the influences of Spain’s greatest artists, from Zurbarán, Velázquez, and Goya to Picasso and Miró. It also investigates the impact of Spain’s religious dress and ceremony, its royal history, its rich regional costume, its dance traditions, and the power and splendor of the bullfight on the protean Balenciaga’s designs. This illuminating and lavishly illustrated volume will be a must-have for art and fashion connoisseurs.

About the Author:

Hamish Bowles is the European editor at large for Vogue and is recognized as one of the most respected authorities on the worlds of fashion and design. He has written many books, including Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years (2001); Carolina Herrera: Portrait of a Fashion Icon (2004); Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People (2007); Yves Saint Laurent Style (2008), and The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places (2009).

In 1936, Cristobal Balenciaga opened a fashion house in Paris, after fleeing the Spanish civil war; within a couple of seasons he had raised fashion to the level of art.

Christian Dior called Balenciaga 'the master of us all', while Coco Chanel claimed that he alone was 'a couturier in the truest sense of the word ...the others are simply fashion designers'. In the Fifties he revolutionised women's silhouette, experimenting with the semi-fitted shape, the sack dress, the cocoon and the babydoll. His innovative designs were famously easy to wear, with one diplomat's wife quipping that she could play golf in her Balenciaga gown. In the Sixties, despite the waning power of couture, he created some of his most imaginative clothes, culminating in the bold, fluid lines of his last two collections. Always something of an enigma, he preferred to let his clothes speak for themselves.

Vogue, the international fashion bible, has charted the careers of designers through the decades. Its unique archive of photographs, taken by the leading photographers of the day from Cecil Beaton to Mario Testino, and original illustrations, together with its stable of highly respected fashion writers, make Vogue the most authoritative and prestigious source of reference on fashion. With a circulation of over 160,000 and a readership of over 1,400,000, no brand is better positioned to present a library on the great fashion designers of the modern age.

More than three decades after his death, the Spanish couturier Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972) has become a legendary figure in the history of 20th-century fashion. This book examines Balenciaga`s design and business practice, placing him in the context of the time and country in which he learnt his trade and the international fashion scene.

“We do what we can with fabric — but Balenciaga does anything he wants.” 

—Christian Dior

Cristóbal Balenciaga made his name in Paris in the 1940s and 1950s in the golden age of haute couture. He was hailed by Coco Chanel as “the only true couturier among us,” and his clients included Princess Grace of Monaco and the Duchess of Windsor.

This book is published to mark the inauguration of the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria, Spain, which will house a permanent collection of over one hundred pieces created by this master designer. It features an extraordinary selection of the most representative pieces from the Museum’s collection and includes four essays written by specialists on Balenciaga’s work.

Amalia Descalzo teaches Communication and Management in Fashion at the Centro Universitario Vellanueva. Miren Arzalluz is the curator and head of collections at Fundación Cristóbal Balenciaga. Pierre Arizzoli-Clémentel is the former director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Lourdes Cerrillo is Lecturer in the History of Art at the University of Valladolid. Marie-Andrée Jouve was head of the Balenciaga archives from 1980 to 2003. Lucina Llorente is a specialist in materials and technical textiles.

Cristobal Balenciaga made his name in Paris in the 1940s and 1950s in the golden age of haute couture and was hailed by Coco Chanel as the only true couturier amongst us, able to design, cut, assemble and sew a dress entirely by himself. His clients included Princess Grace of Monaco and the Duchess of Windsor. This book is published to mark the long-awaited inauguration of the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria, Guipuzcoa, Spain, which will house a permanent collection of over 100 pieces created by the master designer. Four introductory articles by Balenciaga experts present new research and analysis of the designers work and assess his legacy, but at the heart of the book is a catalogue of the museums outstanding collection in over 500 wonderful illustrations. This beautiful book will be essential reading for both designers and anyone interested in Balenciaga's life and work.

Towards the end of her life, major exhibitions in London and Vienna brought Viennese artist Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (1906-1996) wide acclaim. This book invites Motesiczky`s work and situates the artist in the troubled history of her times. It tells the story of Motesiczky`s life. In the years following World War II, Cristobal Balenciaga emerged as a designer to be reckoned with in the world of haute couture. This illustrated book presents nearly 70 Balenciaga creations for day and evening, along with 25 hats, from the archives of the Texas Fashion Collection of the University of North Texas.

This was the profession of faith of the man whom Dior called ‘the master of us all’. Strict, even ascetic, Balenciaga was, with Chanel, Dior and Schiaparelli, one of the icons of the golden age of haute couture. The care he took with a garment’s construction, the perfection of his cut, his choice of materials, textures and colours, including an intense black, gave his vision of fashion and refinement a singular distinction, that became the fashion house’s famous signature.

Having presented his last collection in February 1968, Balenciaga decided to close his salons and to return to live in the country of his birth, Spain. Thirty years later, Nicolas Ghesquière re-established the artistic direction of the house, giving the venture – once thought to be finished – a new lease of life. Universally acclaimed for his freshness of vision, sobriety and a rigour that recalls that of his predecessor, Ghesquière is considered one of the most important creative personalities at work today.

Balenciaga Paris pays homage to this unique fashion enterprise, covering both stellar periods of the house – a span of some 75 years.

With a fascinating collection of photographs, sketches, illustrations and press comments, assembled by Pamela Golbin, curator at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile, the book presents a precise chronology and a detailed account of this two-part journey.

Designed by Fabien Baron, art director of Vogue, and featuring work by some of the finest photographers of our time, including Irving Penn, this publication provides not only the compelling history of one of Paris’s greatest fashion houses, but also constitutes a milestone of book design in its own right.