‘Balenciaga – Masterful Black’ exhibition comes to The Hague

“If haute couture is an orchestra, then Balenciaga is the conductor and the rest of us are just the musicians who follow the master’s instructions.” This is how designer Christian Dior once described the creative work of fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. The art museum in The Hague, Netherlands, has dedicated an exhibition to the design luminary. ‘Balenciaga in Black’ will be accessible from September 24th to March 5th. The exhibition had previously been shown in Paris.

As the name suggests, ‘Balenciaga – Masterful Black’ gives a comprehensive insight into Cristóbal Balenciaga’s penchant for the color black. In addition to more than 60 items of clothing and accessories, the exhibition is supplemented by additional exhibits such as fabrics, drawings, film material and photographs, as well as anecdotes about the designer’s work and his inspiration.

Cristóbal Balenciaga – the couturier among couturiers

Cristóbal Balenciaga, who learned to sew at the age of twelve, was best known for his complex design constructions in the 1950s and 1960s. He used tailoring to experiment with shapes and silhouettes that broke away from the lines of the body. As part of this, Balenciaga teamed up with a Swiss fabric manufacturer to create a special fabric known as ‘Gazar’, which was strong but lightweight, making it ideal for draping. He often used textured fabrics and played with different textures – from flowing silk, to lace, velvet, to fringed details and sequins.

Black’s neutrality brought out the best in textural and tactile detail. The fashion designer even made his prototypes out of black fabric – a stark contrast to the unbleached cotton fabrics commonly used.

Inspired by Black and Spain

Cristóbal Balenciaga, who was born in Getaria, Spain in 1895, was always inspired by Spanish culture despite his cosmopolitan lifestyle. The paintings of the Spanish artists Francisco Goya, Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Zurbarán, whose color compositions showed a lot of black, but also Spain’s history with color always gave the designer creative ideas.

Cristóbal Balenciaga also allowed his roots to flow into his work, detached from the color black. He often designed mantillas, a Spanish head and shoulder covering, and included embroideries, lace and ruffles in his collection, as is known from flamenco clothing.

The legacy of Balenciaga

In his time, Cristóbal Balenciaga was also a revolutionary. From 1956 onwards, he always showed his collections one month after the official fashion shows in order to avoid imitators. Hubert de Givenchy followed his example and other fashion designers also expressed their awe: Coco Chanel once said that he was “the only couturier in the truest sense of the word – the others his just fashion designers”.

The designer’s legacy is still relevant today: creative director Demna Gvasalia, who has been creating the Balenciaga collections since 2015, continues Cristóbal Balenciaga’s signature in a modern way. The color black can be found in Gvasalia’s collections, as well as sculptural designs that create new shapes and play with volumes. Through his unique creative vision, Gvasalia has made Balenciaga one of the most influential brands in today’s high fashion. However, the contemporary role of Balenciaga is not taken up in ‘Balenciaga – Masterful Black’.