01CHRISTIAN DIOR CALLED CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA 'THE MASTER OF US
ALL.' COCO CHANEL WENT FURTHER: BALENCIAGA, SHE SAID, WAS THE
ONLY COUTURIER WHO COULD CUT, ASSEMBLE, AND SEW A GARMENT
ENTIRELY BY HIS OWN HAND. THE OTHERS WERE DRESSMAKERS.
02HE CAME FROM GETARIA, A BASQUE FISHING VILLAGE, BORN IN 1895.
HIS MOTHER WAS A SEAMSTRESS; HE LEARNED AT HER SIDE AND COULD
BUILD A WHOLE GARMENT BY HAND. FLEEING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR,
HE OPENED IN PARIS IN 1937.
03WHILE DIOR CINCHED THE WAIST TO A WASP, BALENCIAGA DID THE
OPPOSITE: HE CUT THE BODY LOOSE. THE TUNIC, THE SACK DRESS OF
1957, THE BALLOON HEM, THE COCOON COAT, ALL SHAPES THAT STOOD
AWAY FROM THE FIGURE.
04THE OBSESSION WAS CUT, NOT DECORATION. HE FOUGHT TO BUILD A
SLEEVE AND A COLLAR FROM AS FEW SEAMS AS POSSIBLE, AND WORKED
IN STIFF SILK GAZAR SO A DRESS COULD HOLD A SHAPE IN MID-AIR.
SCULPTURE YOU COULD WEAR.
05IN 1967 HE CUT A WEDDING GOWN FROM SILK GAZAR WITH A SINGLE
SEAM RUNNING THE LENGTH OF THE BACK AND NO SIDE SEAMS.
CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA DID NOT CHASE TRENDS, GIVE INTERVIEWS,
OR COURT THE PRESS. THE WORK SPOKE.
06WHEN BALENCIAGA SHUT HIS HOUSE IN 1968 AND SIMPLY WALKED
AWAY, CHANEL IS SAID TO HAVE MOURNED THAT FASHION HAD LOST
ITS ONLY REAL COUTURIER. HE DIED IN 1972. THE OTHERS, AS SHE PUT
IT, WENT ON DESIGNING.