Cristobal Balenciaga: The Great Couturier

On March 18, an exhibition dedicated to Cristobal Balenciaga and his legacy: "Game Changers - Reinventing the 20th Century Silhouette" will open at the MoMu Antwerp Fashion Museum.

The exhibition will tell about the ideals of female beauty and the architectural silhouette erected in a cult by Spanish couturiers. Together with the works of Balenciaga, the exhibition will show an entire anthology of 20th century fashion history.

In anticipation of the opening of the exhibition, we recall the main merits of the great couturier.

• Balenciaga created more than 140 collections and developed a number of fundamentally new clothing models. Here's what he created: high-waisted dresses, a narrow, straight silhouette in the shape of the letter I, a-line dresses, cocoon coats, four-piece jackets, voluminous back jackets, front-closed dresses with low back, blouses without collars, loose jackets , shirt cut sleeves, sleeve three-quarters long.

• Balenciaga anticipated Dior's “new bow” and made an important contribution to the fashion world - a new silhouette for women. The amazing effect of Cristobal’s perfect technique made any female figure more plastic and feminine. The shortened sleeve bared the wrists, the collar bared the collarbone and made the neck sleeker, the high waistline made the legs longer.

• The great Coco Chanel spoke of him like this: "He is the only Couturier in the literal sense of the word - all the other designers."

• Among the clients of Balenciaga are the queens of Spain and Belgium, the Princess of Monaco, the Duchess of Windsor, Pauline de Rothschild, Mona von Bismarck, Ingrid Bergman and Marlene Dietrich.

• The son of a seamstress and a sailor from a poor Baku village, Balenciaga was trained by Coco Chanel herself and opened her own fashion house in Paris. Subsequently, Oscar de la Renta, Hubert Givenchy, Emmanuel Ungaro and Andre Currez became his students.