Why I love Cristóbal Balenciaga!
For nearly a year now, I cannot get designer Cristóbal Balenciaga out of my mind. To be completely honest, I did not know about him before that, but ever since I stumbled upon his works on the internet, I keep coming back for more.
I was amazed by his collections of clothes, especially considering the fact that his career began in the 1930s. I will not mention here facts from his biography or list his numerous contributions to modeling and fashion in general.You can look it up your selves.. Instead, I will simply try to express my fascination with him.
When thinking about his gowns, the only associations that come to mind are very poetic and colorful. The cut of his gowns is so accurate and masterfully executed, that it seems to me as they are some kind of streamlined living organisms. The lines of his designs are so vivid that they look like some sort of wet animals, and that’s why each crease and detail in the fabric is accentuated even more.
The reason I began the discussion with the cut of the clothes and not their design and it is because in Balenciaga’s case, the cut is the design . There is not a single useless detail that isn't planned to be an essential part of the cut. He is a Master of his craft not only because his creations are beautiful, but because this beauty was born out of the wish to create new dimensions in fashion while masterfully handling shapes using his unique sense of design.
Perhaps it is exactly due to his excellence as a designer and couturier that I fell in love with the Balenciaga 's works.
Some people go back to reading their favorite book or watching their favorite film in order to cheer themselves. I, on the other hand, go back to browsing Balenciaga’s works.
If uninspired or doubtful in regards to my latest design of shoes, I go back to Balenciaga's designs again and again to regenerate my spirits.
I am no expert, but in my opinion, Cristóbal Balenciaga is one of the forefathers of modern fashion design. Simply Look at the works of Galliano, McQueen or Yamamoto (also some of my favorite designers) and you will see the familiar Belenciaga lines . The silhouettes and the styles of our clothes have been created by him way back in the 1950’s!
Once again, I must say that I am in awe of his art as a designer and a couturier. I think I'd like to sign off with Balenciaga’s motto, which, I adopted and is now something I strive for: “a Couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for color, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance”.
PS: If anyone who has read this blog has any detailed information about Balenciaga that is not found on the internet, I’d be very thankful if he/she could share it with me.
Thank You.
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