01OTHER DESIGNERS CALLED HIM 'THE MASTER'. CHRISTIAN DIOR SAID HAUTE
COUTURE WAS AN ORCHESTRA, AND CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA WAS ITS
CONDUCTOR. IN A WORLD OF HUGE EGOS, THE SPANISH COUTURIER WAS THE
ONE HIS RIVALS QUIETLY BOWED TO.
02HE WAS A SCULPTOR IN CLOTH. WHERE OTHER DESIGNERS PROPPED A DRESS UP
WITH BONING AND PADDING, BALENCIAGA BUILT SHAPE FROM THE CUT ALONE,
CHOOSING STIFF, HEAVY FABRICS AND CARVING FORM STRAIGHT INTO THEM.
THE ENGINEERING WAS INVISIBLE, AND THAT WAS THE POINT.
03HIS 1961 ONE-SEAM COAT SAYS IT ALL. IT WAS CUT FROM A SINGLE PIECE
OF CLOTH AND GIVEN ITS ENTIRE SHAPE BY ONE SEAM UNDER THE ARM, PLUS
A FEW TUCKS AND FOLDS. IT LOOKS SIMPLE. IT IS FIENDISHLY, ALMOST
IMPOSSIBLY HARD TO DO.
04HE FREED THE BODY, TOO. BALENCIAGA'S BALLOON JACKETS, SACK DRESSES,
BABY-DOLL AND COCOON SHAPES PULLED CLOTH AWAY FROM THE FIGURE AND
GAVE WOMEN ROOM TO MOVE. DIANA VREELAND CALLED HIM THE PROPHET OF
NEARLY EVERY CHANGE IN SILHOUETTE.
05AND HE WAS A PERFECTIONIST RECLUSE. HE RARELY GAVE INTERVIEWS,
GUARDED HIS ATELIER, AND CARED FOR NOTHING BUT THE WORK. WHEN FASHION
SPED UP AND WENT READY-TO-WEAR IN THE LATE SIXTIES, HE SIMPLY CLOSED
HIS HOUSE RATHER THAN COMPROMISE.
06THAT IS THE LEGACY. HALF OF MODERN TAILORING, AND EVERY DESIGNER WHO
HAS TRIED TO BUILD A SHAPE FROM CUT ALONE, IS WORKING IN HIS SHADOW.
THE MASTER DID NOT SHOUT. HE JUST SOLVED PROBLEMS NO ONE ELSE COULD
EVEN ATTEMPT.