"L’alta moda è come un’orchestra e il direttore è Balenciaga. Noi altri couturier siamo i musicisti e seguiamo la direzione da lui indicata". Questa affermazione di Christian Dior racchiude, meglio di qualsiasi altra, la potenza innovatrice di Cristóbal Balenciaga, tra le figure più influenti della moda nel Novecento. Al Maestro del fashion, scomparso a Valencia nel 1972, il Victoria & Albert Museum di Londra dedica ora la prima mostra britannica.
Cristóbal Balenciaga at work, Paris, 1968. Photograph Henri Cartier-Bresson © Henri Cartier-Bresson, Magnum Photos
Model wearing Balenciaga orange coat as I. Magnin buyers inspect a dinner outfit in the background, Paris, France, 1954 © Mark Shaw, mptvimages.com
Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn wearing coat by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1950. Photograph by Irving Penn © Condé Nast, Irving Penn Foundation
Flamenco-style evening dress, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1961. Photograph by Cecil Beaton, 1971 © Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s
Elise Daniels with street performers, suit by Balenciaga, Le Marais, Paris, 1948. Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Alberta Tiburzi in ‘envelope’ dress by Cristóbal Balenciaga, Harper’s Bazaar, June 1967 © Hiro 1967
Evening gown and cape, ziberline, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Paris, 1967 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dovima with Sacha, cloche and suit by Balenciaga, Café des Deux Magots, Paris, 1955. Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation
Spiral hat, silk, Balenciaga for Eisa, Spain, 1962 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Bolero jacket, EISA, Spain, 1947 © Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga
Oscar de la Renta, Spring Summer 2015 ready-to-wear, look 37 © Catwalking