Introduction
Fashion can be viewed as the prevailing style or a custom in a specific period of time. Over the years, fashions have been an order of the day. Many eras have come and passed each with its unique fashions; this is more so in the case of dress. One design or style may be popular in one day, only to be an issue of the past some time later. Moreover, historical designers have been frequently involved in introduction of new designs in the market.
Although fashions are characterized by the introduction of new designs, it is important to note that fashions are cynical. For instance, some of the current designs may be borrowed from earlier designers. The current designers may just modify the previous pattern and then re-introduce it as a fashion. This implies that the historical designers play a significant role in the modern fashions. One of the designers from the history whose work has been intensively used is Cristobal Balenciaga.
Cristobal Balenciaga is one of the designers whose work had a significant influence on the designers of his time as well as the modern designers. Balenciaga was born in the year 1895 in Getaria in Spain. His interest in designing can be traced back during his childhood years where he was influenced by his mother who was a professional dress maker. Being exposed to dress making at early age, Balenciaga was taught by his mother on how to make clothes when he was very young. This exposure also increased Balenciaga’s interest in fashion.
With time, Balenciaga’s interest in cloth making increased significantly. Meanwhile, one of the family’s close friends known as Marquesa de Casa Torres detected his interest in cloth making and designs. After this, Torres directed him to Madrid where he was taught tailoring formally.
It is from this point where Balenciaga’s career begun. In 1913, Balenciaga was employed as a tailor, an opportunity that helped in improving his skills in fashions and cloth making. Later in 1919, he managed to start up a studio, which was named after him (Watts, 2009). One year later, he closed the studio and opened another one, which he named after his mother Eisa (Watts, 2009).
Balenciaga managed to open three fashion houses. Unfortunately, none of these stores succeeded, as all of them had fallen by the year 1931. He later managed to revive the stores one year later. His sister was assigned with the responsibilities of managed the store.
Even after the continued fall of his stores, Balenciaga’s passion in his career was not affected. He was determined to make significant contributions in his work. In connection to this, he decided to move to France in order to test his career in a new environment. While at France, Balenciaga spent some time studying haute couture, especially concerning the people’s way of life (Watts 2009). His main idea here was to identify the people’s likes and dislikes and the ways of dressing, an aspect that is very important in fashion and design.
Balenciaga is one of the most famous designers whose work has significantly contributed in the design and fashion industry. His designs were unique, a fact that attracted a large number of customers. His work also attracted the attention of other designers in his time.
Inspiration
Throughout his life, Balenciaga conducted an inspiration work, which can be emulated by many people in the designing industry. For instance, he managed to use a creative silhouette, which was distinctive, with extra space between the garment and body (Watts, 2009). This design combined with beautiful colors was unique and inspiring.
Source: The Fashion Spot. (2005).
Balenciaga made a number of innovations, which inspired most of the designers of his time. One of the most conspicuous innovations during this period was the sack dress, kimomo sleeve coat and the balloon dress (Polan & Tredre, 2009).
These designs attracted attention of many people who admired his work. In his work, Balenciaga preferred using stiff fabric in his designs. This enabled him to create a good form in his designs. Since most of his work resembled the work of art, he was mostly referred to as the master of haute couture (Watts, 2009).
Source: The Fashion Spot. (2005).
Customers also liked his clothing because it was more comfortable compared to others. Balenciaga managed to use particular tactics in order to ensure that the customers were always comfortable when wearing his products. For instance, he came up with designs that did not require under-garments in order to shape the body.
Source: The Fashion Spot. (2005).
After his retirement in 1968, Balenciaga did not stop with his work; he continued to make significant contributions in the industry. He managed to sustain a passion for writing, even after retiring, and he came up with attractive garments. For instance, he managed to design a bridal gown for the Dequesa de Cadiz just before he died in 1972 (Watts, 2009).
Influences: The socio-economic, technological, political or specific event or person influenced Balenciaga.
Throughout his work, Balenciaga has been significantly influenced by various technological, socio-economic, political and other events. Some of these have encouraged while others have discouraged him in his work as a designer.
One of the major events that had a significant impact on the design industry was the World War II. During the WWII, the world of fashion came to a standstill (Kendall, 2003). During this period, all fashion houses were close a result of the war. This went on until 1947 when Christian Dior opened a fashion store with the slogan ‘New Look’ (Kendall, 2003). This again marked the beginning of fashion and design after the disruption by the war. Despite of these achievements, the WWII still impacted significantly on people.
After the WWII, most of Balenciaga’s customers shifted to Christian Dior, who was performing very well by then with the ‘New Look’. This had a negative impact on Balenciaga; he even went to an extent of closing his store. However, Dior himself encouraged Balenciaga not to close his store but to keep it open.
Later, they gained a significant international fame that had not been gained earlier. Later, Balenciaga got tremendous fame in many parts of the world especially for his creative designs and structure, making him to dominate the designs and fashions industry.
The socio-economic factors also had a significant influence on Balenciaga’s work. For instance, the fall of the Spanish monarchy in 1931 was the major factor that contributed to the fall of his stores. The fall of monarchy came along with social and economic factors, which affected the dressing industry. However, he re-opened the stores sooner.
Impact: How Balenciaga’s work influenced fashion of the time
As already noted, Balenciaga stood out among the many designers of his time, since he was able to produce unique designs. He made several innovations, an aspect that made his work to capture the interest of others.
One of the organizations that significantly benefited from his work was Givenchy. Before retiring from designing, he offered two of his best pattern cutters to Givenchy (Watts, 2009). Givenchy heavily relied on Balenciaga’s ability to come up with unique designs. For instance, the organisation felt a loss when Balenciaga suggested leaving the company on its own before retiring from the industry. Many designers apply most of his aspects in their work.
Modern Designer: Oscar de La Renta; A short historical account, life and career
Oscar de La Renta is one of the modern designers whose work has significantly contributed in the modern fashion industry. Just like Balenciaga, Oscar was inspired in dressmaking at a very young age. He had great interests on art, which he studied in Madrid.
While at Spain, Oscar’s interest for the world design developed dramatically (Infomat, 2011). This is the time when he began his career by sketching for some of the leading companies in Spain. At the age of 24, his work appeared in one of the magazines for his interests and work by then. This was back in 1956.
Oscar’s work also involved some sportswear collection, eyewear, scarves, jewelry, and cosmetic cases. Oscar managed to present into the market a very wide range of products. He provided both male and female attire, coming along in unique designs.
Modern Inspiration: Explanation of the design philosophy, aesthetics and the specific style/styles of Oscar de La Renta
Just like the work done by Balenciaga, Oscar’s work has inspired in many ways. After his appointment as a designer at Pierre’s Balmain, Oscar attracted the attention of many people from his work. For instance, many famous international clients such as Mercedes were highly impressed by his work (Walker, 2006).
Oscar is regarded as one of the incredibly talented person, as he has managed to introduce extremely attractive fashions in the market. He has managed to present continuous fabulous creations in the market. Moreover, his work has attracted the attention of many designers, mainly due to his ability to apply unique and vivid colors in his designs.
Source: Street Seen (2010).
Legacy: Ways in which Balenciaga influence Oscar de La Renta
Through his work, Balenciaga has significantly influenced the modern designers. As already noted, fashion is somehow cynical. Most of the fashions that came long in the past have been rewinding over time. In other words, the work of historical designers plays a significant role in directing the modern designers in their work.
One of the modern designers who have been significantly affected by Balenciaga’s work is Oscar de La Renta. A significant amount of his work is, to a large extent, under Balenciaga’s influence. Since the early stages of his career development, Oscar has been largely influenced by Balenciaga’s work.
Oscar’s work resembles Balenciaga’s in many aspects; “one of the main aspects through which Oscar’s work has closely resembled the previous works by Balenciaga is his use of vivid color” (Walker 2006). He managed to make perfect and sure colors, which he combined with beautiful fabrics in making effective fashions that attracted many people.
Oscar was largely attracted by the elegance and luxury of the fabrics that were used by Balenciaga. This has greatly influenced Oscar even to day in his design and choice of colors in his work. He has been inspired by the fabrics that were used by Balenciaga to come up with clothes, which were comfortable to wear.
Due to his close linkage with Balenciaga’s work, Oscar’s work was similarly successful. Later, he became a designer at the House of Pierre Balmain in Paris in 1992 (Walker, 2006). Achieving this position was a greater achievement, since he became the first American designer to gain such a reputable position in a French dressmaking house. Later, many customers were attracted by the work done by Oscar. Many were attracted by the way he approached couture tradition.
Source: Street Seen (2010).
Apart from influencing the modern designers through the fashion, Balenciaga also influenced through his textiles. Oscar has been influenced by Balenciaga in choosing the best fabrics for his work. Indeed, Balenciaga has been widely known to use unique fabrics which were available in many vivid colors.
Conclusion
This discussion has clearly revealed that Balenciaga did a significant work as a designer. As noted earlier, Balenciaga’s inspiration in dressmaking developed when he was a very young person. He managed to learn how to make dresses while he was still very young. His skills developed with time, after which he became a famous designer of the 20th century.
His work inspired many people during the time. He has also inspired the work of the modern designers, most of whose works have been based on the former’s work. For instance, his designs are widely known for the use of vivid color, which attracted many customers. One of the modern designers who have been significantly influenced by Balenciaga’s work is Oscar.
Most of Oscar’s work has been largely based on Balenciaga’s work. For instance, Oscar has been impressed by the vivid color, which was mostly used by Balenciaga in his fabrics. Oscar is also inspired to use textiles similar to those used by Balenciaga.
References
Infomat. (2011). Oscar de la Renta Fashion Designer. Web.
Kendall, R. (2003). OSCAR: the Style, Inspiration and Life of Oscar de la Renta. Web.
Polan, B. and Tredre, R. (2009). The Great Fashion Designers. New York: Berg.
Street Seen. (2010). Fashion Shows; Oscar de la Renta. Web.
The Fashion Spot. (2005). 1895-1972 Cristobal Balenciaga. Web.
Walker, M. (2006). Texas Fashion Collection. Balenciaga and his legacy: haute couture from the Texas Fashion Collection. NY: Yale University Press.
Watts, J. (2009). Cristobal Balenciaga: His Styles Are Still in Fashion Today. Web.