From Couture to Closure and Back Again: The Creative Evolution of Balenciaga
365 days of fashion: the e-ncyclopedia of fashion
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Okay, fashion friend — let’s talk Balenciaga.
You’ve probably already heard that Pierpaolo Piccioli (yes, Valentino’s Pierpaolo!) is officially Balenciaga's new creative director, starting on July 10. Big deal, right? But before we get excited for what’s coming, I figured it’s the perfect time to take a step back and look at how wild the journey of this brand has been.
Seriously, few houses have shapeshifted this much and still stayed at the top of the game. From Parisian couture greatness to closure, and back again, this time with streetwear cool, let’s explore all the creative directions the Spanish house has gone through.
Cristóbal Balenciaga: Couture First
The story of Balenciaga began in 1917, when its namesake founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga, opened a workshop in San Sebastian, Spain, followed by the opening of the permanent couture house in 1937 on 10 Avenue Georges V in Paris. His first collection was greeted with immediate success by the press and buyers.
Praised by Coco Chanel as “the only couturier in the truest sense of the word”, by Monsieur Dior the “conductor” of all the couturiers, and christened “The Master' of haute couture” all across the fashion circles, Cristóbal Balenciaga built one of the leading houses of the 20th century. He was famed for his exquisite craftsmanship, innovative designs, and garment construction technique, and never sketched, preferring to work with the fabric directly. He viewed fashion as a noble art form, akin to music or painting. “A couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for color, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance,” he famously said.
“But what made Balenciaga different from other couturiers of the time?” you might ask.
See, Balenciaga lived for couture only, and when ready-to-wear became mainstream in the 1960s, he was one of the few designers to fiercely resist it. Ready-to-wear, in his eyes,