In 1902 Balenciaga spent several months in Bordeaux trying to learn French, since he felt this would be most essential for his career. When he was 19 he started to work for Calle de Hernani who made ladies gowns. Cristobal Balenciaga opened his first salon in San Sebastian in 1919, and then opened a second and a third in the city of Madrid in 1933. This was run by his sister from 1948 to 1968 when it then closed. In 1935 he opened his Barcelona salon.

The Empress Eugenie, the Queen Mother Maria Cristina and other royal ladies, stayed at San Sebastian, which was a fashionable seaside resort and Balenciaga would personally go to the Miramar palace for fittings for their gowns. Throughout the 20's, Balenciaga had been visiting Paris for the purpose of buying couture creations in order to sell at his salons in Spain. He bought from Charles-Frederic Worth, Lanvin, Cheuit, Molyneux, Paquin, Lelong, Vionnet, Chanel, and Schiaparelli.

When the Spanish civil war began in 1937, Balenciaga decided to move to Paris and presented his first collection in August of that year. He was not an inexperienced novice when he arrived in Paris but he was not well-known either. Within a year however, his dresses were seen on all fashionable women and he was hailed as the new leading light.

Starting from 1938 The Duchess of Westminster ordered a pink jersey dress, and the American buyers then ordered many of his gowns. Within a year, his name was being spoken about everywhere.

Balenciaga always seemed to be many steps ahead of all the other fashion designers. He had what VOGUE called the "flame of prophecy". In the 1930's many of his jersey draped dresses looked ahead to a 40's silhouette. Also, when Dior was making headlines with this shape, Balenciaga showed a suit with no waist which became known as the 'sack' a few years later. By then he was making chemise dresses which would be famed as the sleeveless sheath of the 60's. He was the first in 1957 , to bare the leg to the knee in one of his evening dresses, long before the mini ever appeared.

Balenciaga disliked the fashion press and publicity, and from 1957 denied them entry to his collections. He held his shows a full month after all the other couturiers. He hated the idea of working in order to please a voracious press that demanded new ideas with every collection. He did not work that way. He refined his ideas with every collection, constantly trying to increase his level of excellence.

Balenciaga's most famous decade was the 1950's, when he introduced several new looks. One of his famous contributions to fashion was the Baby Doll look, which he introduced in 1957. He applied this name to a group of very short flounced lace dresses. The loose lace overdress showed a more adult slinky crepe-de-chine fitted sheath underneath. 

Cristobal Balenciaga is known to have trained at Givenchy, Courreges, Ungaro and many others and they even now, regard him as their main mentor. Dying at the age of 87, the house of Balenciaga was also owned by Jacques Bogart SA till the Spring of 2001, when a controlling interest was bought by Gucci.

The Style of  Balenciaga

Simplicity has always been the chief aim of Balenciaga. The richness of his work also results from the influence of his native Spain. He liked working with silks and satin, and made his clothes as feminine as he possibly could. He was a perfectionist and made superb finishes. Balenciaga was fascinated by every seam, a master of colour, cut and line. He was the favourite of the purist, whether client, editor or historian. His garments might, at first glance, seem quite difficult to wear, but for the woman sophisticated enough to understand and project his clothes, they guaranteed the attention of every pair of eyes wherever she went. 

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