Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972) revolutionized the world of fashion. He had an extraordinary talent that challenged the social conventions of the time but was also a very enigmatic man. Disney tries to shed light on his figure starting this Friday with the Balenciaga series, in which Alberto San Juan gives life to the designer born in Getaria and which spans from 1937, when he presented his first haute couture collection in Paris, until 1971, when attended the funeral of her friend Coco Chanel.
Could you define Balenciaga in a single sentence?
A mystery that will never be fully revealed.
What did you know about Balenciaga before filming this series and what have you discovered since?
I didn’t know anything about anything. The first fact I discovered is that he is one of the most important Spanish creators of the 20th century and the contradiction that, despite the fact that his work is known worldwide and changes the history of haute couture design, he is an almost completely unknown person.
What material have you been able to prepare for this role with?
A dozen photographs at most circulate on the Internet. There is no recorded voice of him, there are no interviews… There is only a filmed image of just one minute working with other people in his workshop. The only thing we have left of him are the objective data that his biographers have been able to gather, which is not much. And then there are the testimonies left by the people who knew him.
Yours is a difficult mission, then.
A world famous person who manages to barely let anyone know about him is a guy who avoids public spaces and doesn’t want to show himself. I believe that there must have coincided a spontaneous issue of a rather modest, shy personality and with an idea of ??personal dignity that did not go hand in hand with showing off. And then there was also the fact that he was homosexual, a condition that he had to hide because during his time one could not live naturally and freely.
What was Balenciaga’s great contribution to haute couture?
According to those who know about this, Balenciaga, Coco Chanel and Christian Dior were the three summits of haute couture in the 20th century. Balenciaga conceived new designs such as, for example, the barrel model, without a waist. His work in fashion, along with others, was like Marlon Brando’s in acting: a turning point that marked a before and after.
What was your relationship with Coco Chanel and Christian Dior like?
He had a great friendship with Chanel. When he arrived in Paris, she was already an established designer and helped him a lot. From a certain point onwards they grew apart. The reasons are not clear but there are those who say that it was because she publicly referred to her homosexuality. And with Dior it is unknown if they ever had a friendship. When Balenciaga was one of the kings of fashion, Dior appeared like a hurricane. I don’t know how he would experience it but in the series it is speculated that he experienced it with rivalry.
Was Balenciaga as controlling as they say?
It looks like it is. He had a self-demand that was impossible to meet, both with himself and with others. When it comes to imagining his designs and realizing them materially. It was very difficult for him to be satisfied. I guess because he aimed very high and because it was his character.
Pre-a-porter fashion marked the beginning of the end of his reign.
Yeah. He only did a pre-a-porter job, which was the uniforms for the Air France stewardesses. He found the experience so frustrating that he did not repeat it. In the cultural revolution of the sixties, he already feels older and disconnected. New designers such as Yves Saint Laurent arrived and he decided, at the end of the sixties, to close his workshop and leave the profession.
After filming the series, has your vision of fashion changed?
Yes of course. Before I was totally illiterate and, although now I am still ignorant, I now observe and attend to fashion with much greater respect and interest.
Did that ‘illiteracy’ give you doubts about accepting the role?
Absolutely. Because although fashion obviously has enormous importance in this series, it is still the context to tell the story of a human being. What matters is the human being, whether you work in the world of fashion or any other.
