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The World of Balenciaga

Start Date 23 March 1973
End Date 30 June 1973
Venue Metropolitan Museum of Art
Location New York, USA
Curator Diana Vreeland

Cristobal Balenciaga was the true son of a strong country filled with style, vibrant color, and a fine history. He remained forever a Spaniard and his inspiration came from the bullrings, the flamenco dancers, the fishermen in their boots and loose blouses, the glories of the church and the cool of the cloisters and monasteries. He took their colors, their cuts, then festooned them to his own taste and dressed the Western world for thirty years. A women search for their special identity. All women have sleeping qualities of luxury and mystery. Balenciaga brought the body and dress together in harmony and suddenly a woman found herself in perfect rhythm with the universe. She found herself in delectable colors and combinations and almost impossible perfection. He loved the coquetry of lace and ribbon, of floating taffeta and racy day clothes cut with such gusto and flair of tailoring as the Western world has never known. He was the master tailor, the master dressmaker. His voice was low and his smile was warm. He believed totally in the grace and dignity of women and made each and every one of his devoted patrons a unique and extraordinary figure. (Diana Vreeland)

Exhibition Catalogue

Image provided by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Thomas J. Watson Library