Considered to be “the Master” of couture, and a father of contemporary dress, Balenciaga opened fashion houses in Barcelona and Madrid before moving to Paris in 1937. More than just designing clothing, he was a craftsman who was skilled at making garments from conception to execution. His creations were very bold and sculptural: he introduced many new silhouettes using shapes never used before in women’s fashion (considered to be radical at the time)—from the balloon shape, to the sack dress, to the more abstract “baby doll” dress.
This is one of many Balenciaga examples in Doris Duke’s collection.
