Bullfighting — "From his earliest collections, Balenciaga included designs that contained overt allusions to the costume of the matador," writes Bowles. Using the traditional stiffened bolero of the matador, decorated with sumptuous embroidery, alamar (frog and braid trimming), and distinctive borlones (pompom tassels), as a starting point, Balenciaga softens the silhouette for his female clients throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. Here he collaborates with embroidery houses such as Bataille and Lesage to re-create the passmenterie, beading, and embroideries of the matador costumes, themselves as intricate as haute couture garments. By the 1960s, Balenciaga takes these embroideries and embellishments out of the traje de luces context and uses them as decoration on eveningwear and millinery. Inspiration also comes from the color palette of the matador’s capes and his work includes splashes of bright fuchsia, deep red, and vibrant yellow. Even the carnation, the traditional flower thrown in tribute to matador at the end of a successful bullfight, appears in Balenciaga’s work in embroideries and printed fabric.
Religious Life — A devout Catholic all his life, who once considered joining the priesthood, Balenciaga was deeply moved by both the everyday dress and the pageantry of the Spanish church. He reinterpreted elements suggesting a nun’s habit, a priest’s embroidered chasuble or severe black cassock, a monk’s hooded robe, and even the spectacular, brilliantly colored and embellished robes that clad the statues of the Madonna carried through the streets of Spain during Holy Week. It is here that Balenciaga’s technical mastery and tailoring shine as he plays with ideas of volume, structure, and linear purity.
The Spanish Court — "The dress of Spain’s monarchs, their families, and their courtiers, depicted in some of the most striking portraiture in the history of art, exerted a powerful effect on Balenciaga’s creative imagination," notes Bowles. For example, he references early-seventeenth-century farthingales, distinctive features of Spanish court dress for three centuries, in a literal way, with silhouettes featuring exaggerated hips, and then abstracts them later in his career in the six-pointed peplums of evening gowns. Sumptuous embroideries, ermine tails, and pearl details present luxurious, contemporary versions of royal themes.
Regional Dress — Balenciaga’s imagination was fueled with ideas driven by the diverse regional costume of Spain and by some of the original folkloric pieces that he gathered for his personal collection. He translated traditional Spanish garments such as a mantón de Manila, a fringed silk shawl embroidered with brilliant floral motifs, into haute couture embroideries by Lesage that he used to decorate spectacular evening clothes. His shaggy vests of innovative mohair textiles recall the practical garments of a Navarran shepherd. Humble cloaks and capes reappear in sumptuous fabrics with voluminous lines. Loose, unfitted cotton piqué blouses evoking fishermen’s shirts recall the clothing of his Basque homeland. "Balenciaga revolutionized fashion by referencing the sturdy, utilitarian garments worn by the Spanish laboring classes — as well as the attitude and philosophy that shaped them — to create a new paradigm of mid-century elegance," explains Bowles.
Balenciaga and Spain by Hamish Bowles
1. Detail of cocktail dress of fuchsia silk shantung and black lace with black silk satin ribbons, summer 1966. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Eleanor Christensen de Guigne Collection (Mrs. Christian de Guigne III), gift of Ronna and Eric Hoffman. Photo by Joe McDonald/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
2. Detail of evening ensemble of black silk gazar and wool, ca. 1951. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Gift of Elise Haas. Photo by Joe McDonald/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
3. Cristóbal Balenciaga (circa 1952). © Bettmann/CORBIS
4. Cocktail hat of ivory silk satin, 1953. Originally published in Vogue, October 15, 1953. Photo: John Rawlings.
5. Black silk cocktail hat with silk rose. Collection of Hamish Bowles. Photo by Kenny Komer.
6. Sketch of Balenciaga "Infanta" evening dress; from Vogue Magazine (September 15, 1939). Carl Erickson/Conde Nast Archive; © Conde Nast.
Pages: 1 · 2
More Articles
- New York's Jewish Museum: Photography and the American Magazine; When Avant-garde Techniques in Photography and Design Reached the United States via European Emigrés
- Jane's Shortall's Amazing Return to London ... ‘Putting the Luxe in Luxury’
- A Diane Girard Reprise: Keep Those Paws Off My Pajamas
- Victoria and Albert Museum: On Point, Royal Academy of Dance at 100
- James Tissot: Fashion & Faith: “A painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era.”
- What Were We Thinking? Mink Stoles, Kid Leather Hats, Frilly Petticoats, Frocks, Tchotchkes, Fine China for “Company”
- Kay Nielsen’s Enchanted Vision: The Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection
- Paris 1900 and the Atmosphere of the Belle Epoque Recreated, A Vibrant and Swiftly Changing City
- Prepare for Fashion and Faith At The Legion of Honor; "A painting by Mr. Tissot will be enough for the archeologists of the future to reconstruct our era"
- Dickens and His World: Bits and Pieces from From Oxford's Bodleian Library and the Great Dickens Christmas Fair