In 1942, the Marchioness of Llanzol tried to negotiate down the price of one of her designs with Cristóbal Balenciaga: she was pregnant and the suit needed to be refitted after giving birth. He replied, “Madam, I am not responsible.” I like to imagine that if someone, in a hypothetical afterlife, could have asked him about Cristóbal Balenciaga, the extraordinary Disney+ series, he would have given the same answer . It's easy to speculate about the displeasure of a genius allergic to exposure. Simple and useless.
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A series and a fashion collection are linked: applied, episodic, temporary artistic manifestations, the result of hierarchical community work and almost always subject to a market. In the same way – sorry for the tongue twister – we can say that Cristóbal Balenciaga is very Cristóbal Balenciaga, even if we don't know what Balenciaga would think of Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Created by Lourdes Iglesias, Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga, the series features production values of haute couture on television (special mention goes to the impeccable work of Bina Daigler and Pepo Ruiz Dorado in costume design and Alberto Iglesias in the soundtrack) and a cast including Directed by an excellent Alberto San Juan. Following the designs of Cristóbal Balenciaga, as defined by Judith Thurman, it is much more important for what it hides than what it shows. Fortunately, he is deliberately ambiguous when it comes to considering his protagonist. And it is able to show its secret and keep it. In short, it is a series with authorship, intention and point of view in a store saturated with ready-to-wear clothing. After watching it, you'll want to imitate Myrtle Snow, the clone of Carmel Snow and Grace Coddington from the third season of American Horror Story. His last word before his death was a shout: Balenciaga!
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