{"id":2159,"date":"2020-11-25T20:03:16","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T19:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uncommonground.pl\/luxury-rebellion\/"},"modified":"2020-11-25T20:06:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T19:06:11","slug":"luxury-rebellion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uncommonground.pl\/en\/luxury-rebellion\/","title":{"rendered":"Balenciaga – luxury rebellion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\r\nCrist\u00f3bal Balenciaga Eizaguirre was born in 1895 in Getaria, a small fishing village in Basque country in Spain. From an early age he used to spend hours accompanying his mother, a dressmaker, thus furtively learning the ropes of the trade that was to bring him fame and recognition in the future. He was still a teenager, when the prominent Marchioness of Casa Torres became his patron and regular customer. It was she who sent him to Madrid for a formal dressmaking training – and proudly wore its \u201cresults\u201d. Balenciaga\u2019s extremely brilliant success in his home country came early; he was not even 25 when he opened branches of his boutique in Madrid, Barcelona and the fashionable seaside resort of San Sebasti\u00e1n. His designs quickly conquered the hearts of the most important recipients he could have ever dreamed of: the royal family and the aristocracy. But when the Spanish Civil War forced him to close his boutiques, Balenciaga moved his activity to Paris, the world\u2019s undisputed fashion capital, where he joined the pantheon of celebrities such as Coco Chanel or Elsa Schiaparelli. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Young Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga \u2013 from a Fishing Village to the World of High Fashion, Paris 1927; source http:\/\/lecornacchiedellamoda.blogspot.com\/2013\/01\/cristobal-balenciaga-il-maestro.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\r\nIn August 1937, Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga organised his first fashion show, held at his own atelier in Avenue George V. He presented there a collection much influenced by the Spanish Renaissance art. And anyway, during his entire career Balenciaga eagerly worked on and redefined many historical styles. His \u201cInfanta\u201d dress was inspired by costumes of young Spanish princesses depicted in the court paintings by Diego Velazquez, while a short, richly decorated lightweight jacket, traditionally worn by matadors in the ring, gave form to most of his evening ensembles. His home country\u2019s culture, aesthetics, but most of all art were the source of constant inspiration for the designer.\u2028In Paris, Balenciaga\u2019s was almost immediately successful. Within two years the French press hailed him as a revolutionary and his designs attracted great interest. Rumour has it that some American fashion lovers risked their safety or even life, travelling to Europe during World War II to see ensembles designed by him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A double balloon costume shot by Irving Penn for Vogue, 1950; source: https:\/\/theartofdress.org\/tag\/cristobal-balenciaga\/ <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\r\nWhy all this buzz around the designer? Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga introduced smooth and straight lines and unprecedented silhouettes into the fashion. He constantly explored the relationship between garment and body and was not afraid to manipulate it: he widened shoulders, hid the waist, applied asymmetrical cuts or added volume in the least expected sections of an outfit – the fashion created by him was avant-garde to the utmost. One of his most popular creations was the \u201csquare coat\u201d with short sleeves sewn from the same piece of fabric as the body. The Spanish couturier showed himself also as an innovator as regards the use of fabrics: instead of the then fashionable soft textiles he preferred strong and heavy materials on which he created elaborated embroidery, playing with design principles. From all accounts, he had never learned to sketch well – and so he worked directly on the \u201cthree-dimensional\u201d matter, forming it more like a sculpture than a drawing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balenciaga challenged standards not only in fashion, but in his private life as well; he was homosexual, having as his long-term life partner an aristocrat of Polish origin, W\u0142adzio Jaworowski d\u2019Attainville. The designer\u2019s biographer Mary Blume describes his character as difficult and complex; Crist\u00f3bal was taciturn and introverted, sometimes even conceited and arrogant. In his life he gave only one interview – he considered that his designs, refined in every detail, were to speak for themselves. This unapproachability only fuelled the aura of mystery around him, arouse curiosity and provoked questions. Apparently, his motto was the statement that \u201ca good fashion designer had to be an architect for the patterns, a sculptor for the shape, a painter for the colour, a musician for the harmony, and a philosopher for the temperance\u201d – undoubtedly, analogies with the world of art and broadly defined humanities were significant to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wedding dress and evening dress by Balenciaga, photo: David Bailey for \u201eVogue\u201d, 1967; source: https:\/\/theartofdress.org\/tag\/cristobal-balenciaga\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1968, Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga closed his fashion house; it was reopened no sooner than in 1986, some time after his death – and with a completely new face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the brand is extremely popular around the globe, even though it is no longer associated with the Haute Couture fashion but rather with an avant-garde streetwear. Surely most of us knows Balenciaga for its flagship footwear, fondly referred to as \u201cthe world\u2019s ugliest shoes\u201d. Despite the fact that they are heavy, massive and even uncomfortable, thousands of fans do not hesitate to spend a small fortune on this already iconic model. \u2028<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Balenciaga Triple S – the world’s ugliest shoes?; source https:\/\/www.nssmag.com\/en\/fashion\/13562\/balenciaga-has-moved-manufacture-of-the-triple-s-in-china <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several people contributed to this change of the brand image – but we will take a closer look at the present artistic director of the Balenciaga fashion house. Since 2015, this position has been held by Georgian fashion designer Demna Gvasalia (known also as the founder of the \u201crebellious\u201d brand Vetements) who revives the brand founder\u2019s ideas and unconventional thinking, however giving them decidedly modern, sometimes even futuristic traits. Gvasalia, considered an eccentric, claims that his philosophy consists in the \u201cdeconstruction of creation\u201d – in a truly postmodern spirit, he borrows, quotes, mixes and blends fashion influences from different eras and culture areas. His strategy is often described even as the \u201ctrolling\u201d of the fashion world – let\u2019s just mention the famous cooperation with the jeered at slide brand Crocs or successful promotion of IKEA\u2019s blue bag as the most desired accessory. Still, this ironic and irreverent language of communication hits home with the (post-)Millennial generation. Contemporary Balenciaga, led by Gvasalia, knowingly introduces into its collections a style that could be described as programmatically anti-aesthetic, deliberately ignoring current trends. This approach builds the image of the brand as independent, alternative, fresh – and thus luxury.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Balenciaga and inspiration by Ikea: source: https:\/\/www.libremercado.com\/2017-04-27\/la-genial-respuesta-de-ikea-a-la-bolsa-de-balenciaga-1276597805\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Balenciaga\u2019s collections are now much like works of contemporary art – so it comes as no surprise that the link between the brand and the art world is unbreakable. Ever since Demna Gvasalia took the helm of the company, his favourite model, almost the main muse, has been painter Eliza Douglas. Other brand\u2019s models have been for instance performer Antti Kettunen, architect Neda Brady or collector and art market expert Karen Boros. And so Balenciaga seems to go a step further in its understanding of art branding – not only does it create in collaboration with the art world, but above all, it creates for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eliza Douglas – painter and favorite fashion house model; sourcehttps:\/\/www.fashionmodeldirectory.com\/brands\/balenciaga\/shows\/2020\/spring-summer\/45986\/eliza-douglas-1063688\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Almost each Balenciaga\u2019s collection, fashion show, lookbook, advertising campaign or even post on Instagram bear at least a trace of renowned artists\u2019 activity. Last year the brand announced a project drawing on video art straight from the top contemporary art galleries. The Loops series consisted of looped animations complemented by electronic music, as a whole offering the audience a psychedelic, surrealistic climate. The project was meant to refer to the common experience, known to almost all of us, of getting \u201cstuck\u201d on YouTube in the whirlwind of videos automatically played in succession, almost like in an endless trance. Each month different artists were invited to create their \u201cloop\u201d, among them Max Guther, Max de Waard, Claudia Mat\u00e9 or Nicolas Sassoon.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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