The Balenciaga Story: Why This Spanish Refugee Stepped Down at the Height of His Career

this spanish refugee stepped down at the height of his success and told everyone that this would be the end of balenciaga but unfortunately for him nobody listened cristobal balenciaga a singuare was born on january 21 1895 in gueteria a small village in spain's basque region his mother martina ezekwade was a dressmaker while his father worked as a fisherman as his father passed away when he was still very young little cristobal spent many hours by his mother's side while she created beautiful clothes from very early on he cultivated the dream of one day becoming a cortier but seeing that his mom was working hard to make ends meet it also seemed clear that this wouldn't be the most lucrative job this all changed when the spanish aristocrat the marquesa de casa torres invited cristobal's mother to be her personal seamstress the most prominent woman in town was now his mom's patron and client and impressed by cristobal's attention to detail the rich lady even offered him the opportunity of a lifetime she sent him to madrid for formal training in tailoring and she proudly wore the ornaments he created cristobal's skills improved drastically and many began viewing him as a sort of prodigy in his early twenties he opened his own couture boutique in the fashionable seaside resort of san sebastian his designs were worn by the spanish royal family and members of the aristocracy and cristobal soon opened more branches in madrid and barcelona people adored his exclusive creations but his good fortune was about to come to an end the spanish civil war forced the closure of his boutiques and to escape the war cristobal decided to move to the fashion capital of the world paris would he still be loved there too christobal truly loved his home country spain but he had come to the unfortunate conclusion that it was just too unstable to run a business there he needed to start over somewhere new so he gathered all his things and moved to paris in 1937 he opened his aotealer on avenue george v it was located on the third floor of palazzo borghese that same year he staged his first runway show in which he displayed a collection that was heavily influenced by the spanish renaissance his maniac attention to detail and his refined taste soon conquered the european aristocracy and by 1939 balenciaga was being praised in the french press as a revolutionizing force in fashion the future was looking great but then world war ii broke out and it once again seemed like his luck had come to an end during times of war luxurious goods tend to be seen as unnecessary and having already fled his home country to avoid war it seemed like he would have to do it all over again but fortunately for him this time around things wouldn't turn out so bad in fact certain pieces like his square coat were so beloved that customers even risked their lives traveling to france just to get their hands on them by the time the war ended in 1945 valenciaga had become a household name and in the post-war years he set out to differentiate himself even more at a time when femininity was manifested through nipton wastes and prominent hips balenciaga unleashed his genius by going in a different direction entirely he wanted to set the body free his designs became more streamlined and linear and everything he created was in stark contrast to the popular curvy hourglass shape that christian dior promoted with his new look he churned out statement piece after statement piece and from the sack dress to the balloon jacket with each creation he got a lot of attention with these innovative designs balenciaga achieved what is considered to be the most important contribution to the world of fashion a new silhouette for women but would this be enough throughout the next decade valenciaga enjoyed enormous success dubbed fashion's picasso he continued showing collections of unparalleled craftsmanship and beauty but the revolutionary 60s also brought some deep changes the hippie movement rock and roll the first sounds of pop music and the increase of working women changed society's needs and habits and with it a new fashion design branch was born the prey eporte the pre-aporte concept was completely opposed to haute couture tailored works of art were now getting replaced by ready-to-wear clothes in standardized sizes that were sold in big stores and the personal relationship with the client inside the alta layers well that was being replaced by an independent and impersonal buying mentality as you can probably guess these changes were not at all in line with balenciaga's ideals and whenever someone asked him for his thoughts on this new trend he always answered i will never prostitute my talent he opposed the changes so much that he preferred to retire from the fashion world entirely and so that's what he did in 1968 while at the peak of his success during the announcement he made it clear that the house of balenciaga would remain closed forever so then how come so many people are still wearing balenciaga today well we'll get to that in a bit valenciaga had always been a private person and after retiring he continued living a quiet life his retirement didn't last long though as he passed away in 1972 just four years after his big announcement numerous fashion gurus and celebrities attended his funeral and the loss was felt throughout the fashion world we have nobody to replace him oscar de laurenta said he is the only designer i can think of who never did anything in bad taste cristobal's death marked the end of an era and for the next decade the balenciaga house would be quiet while the balenciaga house reopened in 1986 it remained on the sidelines of fashion until 1997. that's when nicolas gassier took over today gassier is well known as the creative director of the house of louis vuitton but back then he was just a 25 year old trying to put his name on the fashion map and that's exactly what he did with his debut collection for balenciaga the modest mostly black collection mimicked cristobal's excellence in the construction of silhouettes and gaziaris stored the brand's galore as an original high fashion house within a year of his debut gassier was reportedly contacted by gucci lvmh and prada but he remained committed to balenciaga a couple of years later balenciaga was acquired by the multinational french curing group and for a while everything was going well after nearly two decades however things began to change gessiere started feeling alienated and unhappy with the balenciaga business team and he left for louis vuitton everything became an asset for the brand trying to make it ever more corporate he said i began to feel as though i was being sucked dry like they wanted to steal my identity while trying to homogenize things it just wasn't fulfilling anymore after gustier's sudden departure alexander wang was ushered in as his replacement but his stint only lasted six seasons then in 2015 balenciaga announced that they appointed demna vasalia as the creative director and that's when the brand truly got turned upside down demna was born in sukumi in georgia in 1981 but he fled to germany at the age of 12 due to the violent civil war in his country the same thing that cristobal balenciaga had done five decades earlier demna is sometimes called a fashion provocateur as he uses fashion to comment on politics and social issues he transports the balenciaga archives from the 1950s and adapts them to the future and his technical parkas triple s sneakers kimono style robes and puffer coats have all revolutionized the luxury market the famous speed sock also attracted much attention when it was introduced in 2016. influencers and fashionistas loved them and while the look already existed before the balenciaga sock sneakers quickly achieved a cult-like following cardi b even went as far as mentioning them in one of her songs then there were of course also the platform soul crocs and leather ikea bags all at luxurious prices demna had transformed everyday items into luxurious goods and while many people were outraged demna himself said that he did it to expose the cliches of fashion elitism with these wacky designs he not only positioned balenciaga as a company that doesn't shy away from ridiculing big corporate fashion but also as one of the cooler luxurious fashion brands on the planet today balenciaga remains as relevant as ever since the pandemic demna has been branching out in some unusual ways and he has redefined what's possible in fashion design as designers struggle to adjust to virtual fashion shows valenciaga sees this opportunity to plunge into the metaverse then balenciaga and gucci which are both owned by curing unveiled the first products of their hacker project and not much later demna directed two of kanye west's donda listening parties and they partnered with fortnite and allowed players to dress in balenciaga looks and at paris fashion week the brand served up a genuine surprise by debuting a 10-minute long balenciaga episode of the simpsons up until recently demno was called the grand master of meme fashion and valenciaga's instagram page was as crazy and unconventional as can be this unusual social media strategy was not an aimless one though sixty-five percent of sales came from millennials in gen zeirs and demna simply recognized that these tech savvy customers want shoes cats randomness and postmodern authenticity this disregard for conventional luxury marketing worked its charm on the younger audience but in july of 2021 demna wiped the brand's social media accounts clean stating i think social media is boring and dangerously addictive for some as well as super manipulative we need to find new ways of using it that are less harmful for society while demna and cristobal may at first seem worlds apart they clearly have more in common than only escaping a war cristobal revolutionized the history of fashion by shaking up the concepts of femininity and he relentlessly pushed fashion beyond its edges creating unconventional works of art that can't be classified and whether you like demna's creations or not it's safe to say that not many would dare to call them conventional or easily classifiable do you think cristobal balenciaga would be pleased with what happened to his legacy share your opinion in the comments i'm curious to hear what you think and if you like this video then take a look at our channel where you'll find many more inspiring business videos

Channel: Business Stories

Views: 58,820

Keywords: Business Stories, balenciaga story, balenciaga documentary, balenciaga history timeline, balenciaga history, balenciaga owner, balenciaga founder, balenciaga ceo, balenciaga, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière, Demna Gvasalia balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia

Id: xIuzidOU3RI

Length: 13min 7sec (787 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 29 2022