You might feel under-dressed when you visit the de Young Museum’s latest exhibition, Balenciaga and Spain. That’s because it features the timeless, elegant couture fashions of Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972).
The exhibition illustrates Balenciaga’s expansive creative vision, which incorporated references to Spanish art, bullfighting, dance, regional costume, and the pageantry of the royal court and religious ceremonies. Balenciaga’s impeccable tailoring, innovative fabric choices, and technical mastery transformed the way the world’s most stylish women dressed.
One great fashion icon deserves another, so the exhibition is guest curated by Hamish Bowles, European editor at large of Vogue. It features 120 haute couture garments, hats, and headdresses by Balenciaga. Some of the most iconic pieces include a dress ruffle inspired by the flourish of a flamenco dancer’s bata de cola skirt, an embroidered bolero jacket, and a velvet-trimmed evening gown.
The exhibition was originally conceived last year by Oscar de la Renta, who began his career in fashion working at Balenciaga’s Madrid couture house in the 1950s. For the de Young Museum, the themes were expanded to include twice as many objects, drawn from museum and private collections around the world, some of which have never been seen before. A special loan of seventeen pieces comes from Hamish Bowles’s own collection.
Balenciaga and Spain has six areas of focus that reflect themes from Balenciaga’s thirty year career: Spanish art, dance, bullfighting, religious life, the Spanish court, and regional dress.
As legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland vividly described him, “Balenciaga was the true son of a strong country filled with style, vibrant color, and a fine history,” who “remained forever a Spaniard… 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.”
The Balenciaga and Spain exhibition is open now at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park until July 4, 2011. Admission to the show is $25 for adults, $22 for seniors 65+, $21 for students with current ID, and $15 youth 6–17. Admission is free for museum members and children 5 and under.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the museum, and also include admission to the special exhibition Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico.
And don’t worry, black tie is not required for admission though I’m sure Señor Balenciaga would appreciate the gesture.
Sarah B.
Cristobal Balenciaga. House photograph of evening ensemble; dress of black silk crepe and
“chou” wrap of black silk gazar, winter 1967.
Cristobal Balenciaga. Evening bolero jacket of burgundy silk velvet and jet and
passementerie embroidery by Bataille, winter 1946.
Cristobal Balenciaga. Evening ensemble of black silk gazar and wool, ca. 1951.