HAUTE COUTURE & CASUAL FASHION DESIGN & NEWS

Born in St Jean de Maurienne, Savoie in 1914. He owed his early training to the two greatest designers of the time - Molyneux and Lucien Lelong .

He opened his own Haute Couture house immediately following the war, in the autumn of 1945, on the Rue François 1er in Paris.

Clients quickly flocked to Balmain, and were thrilled to discover the new image he had created for women.

The Balmain woman had shed the last vestiges of wartime hardship with abundant insouciance and charm, and heralded a return to opulence in richly embroidered gowns and ensembles.

American author Gertrude Stein, a close friend of Balmain's, saluted the advent of this "New French Style" in her writing. This image of an active, irrepressible, perfectly groomed, elegant woman with a touch of independence in her nature took root and was embodied in the "Jolie Madame", emblematic of the nineteen-fifties.

He gave up architectural studies to become a designer in 1934. He worked briefly with Christian Dior, who became his rival after World War II. Balmain's designs, particularly for evening wear, were characterized by superb quality and a combination of femininity and imposing elegance; his clients included film stars and royalty. He later opened branches in New York City and Caracas and expanded into perfume and accessories.

The 1960s were years of renewal for Pierre Balmain, who used fabrics scupturally for the creation of uncluttered designs accenting pure structure and contrasts of cut and style. This was also a richly productive period in the field of costuming for stage and screen. In addition, Balmain designed personal wardrobes for numerous international stars, including Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich, and Katherine Hepburn - to name just a few. This period also marked Balmain's first meeting with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand, who chose him to be her personal couturier.

The name Pierre Balmain stands for a unique concept of elegance, a clientele of royalty and film stars, and a fashion hallmark recognized throughout the world. The ready-to-wear division, founded in the 1970s, has gradually made an impact on the market and is now registering significantly satisfying results, with some 220 licenses worldwide.

With the disappearance of Pierre Balmain in 1982, the torch was passed to Erik Mortensen - his personal assistant since 1951 and his closest colaborator - who maintained the House's traditions while developing and updating styles and designs in the spirit of its founder. In recognition of this achievement, Mortensen won tne France Haute Couture Golden Thimble Awards for his Automn-Winter 1983/1984 collection. Erik Mortensen then went onto his second French Haute Couture Golden Thimble Award, presented at the Palais Galliéra on 31 July 1987, for his Autumn-Winter 1987/1988 collection.

When Erik Mortensen left the House of Balmain in July 1990, he was replaced by youthful Hervé-Pierre, who served as designer from 1990 through 1993 for both the Haute Couture and ready-to-wear collections.

In january 1993, internationally renowned American designer Oscar de la Renta signed his first Haute Couture collection for Pierre Balmain and has now rejuvinated the line while respecting the colours, the fluidity and elegance of the "Jolie Madame" esprit

YVES SAINT LAURENT Fall 08: They looked like an army of futuristic female automata, marching out in identical black-bowl wigs and black lipstick, some with their eyes blanked out by narrow slivers of wraparound sunglasses. The clothes they wore were equally uncompromising: stark planes of tweed, felt, and flocked fabric, precision-sliced into geometric angles and unfamiliar volumes.

It made one of the season’s most joltingly dramatic contributions to the current dialogues about tailoring and austerity. If there were elements of the eighties or Italian futurism in there—like the banana-shaped high-waist pants or the curviform layers of scroll-like volumes in skirts—it wasn’t Stefano Pilati’s intention to be referential. “I just wanted it to be about cut, about looking at the clothes,” he said. “I don’t think you want to go out advertising a brand anymore. You just want to feel proud walking down the street.”

DRIES VAN NOTEN

Claudia Schiffer - Claudia Schiffer won't work with designers who are nasty to her model friends. The German supermodel rose to fame in the 90s and became such good pals with many of her contemporaries she was, and still is, as concerned about their careers as her own.

At the age of thirteen, he astounded the Marquise of CASA TORRES with his comments on her elegance. Realising his interest in Couture and his aesthetic potential, she allowed him to make a copy of the Haute Couture clothing she was wearing.
Trembling, he did his work so well that she awarded him by wearing it.
The following year he travelled to Paris. In a daze, he devoured the collections of  DOUCET, WORTH, DRECOLL and others.
Upon his return and at the age of sixteen, he opened his first Couture workshop in San Sebastian, where he adapted the Parisian Style for Spanish women.

In 1915, the first fashion house was opened in San Sebastian under the name BALENCIAGA.
In 1920, the second house opened in Madrid.
He left Spain when the civil war broke out and established himself in Paris, where, in August 1937, he opened his showrooms at 10 avenue George V.
From the start, a style was created which lived up to its expectations for thirty glorious years. BALENCIAGA himself sums it as follows :
« a Couturier must be an architect for design, a sculptor for shape, a painter for color, a musician for harmony, and a philosopher for temperance ».

Year after year, the one they call « the couturier of couturiers » created astonishment with his collections and the mastery of his cuts. He changed women's silhouettes.
1945 : close-fitting waistlines, square shoulders.
1951 : open necks, wide shoulders, looser waistlines.
All these features created « the BALENCIAGA revolution ».
He also left his imprint on various periods :
coasts with wide collars, tunic dresses, sack dresses in the 50's.
He also turned his flair to the creation of prestigious perfumes. This man, whose exceptional talent never tired in its quest to achieve even greater harmony between the body and clothing, always knew that the true sign of elegance, the ultimate refining touch, lay in the subtle, delicate notes of a fragrance.
In 1947, he created his first perfume : LE DIX from the famous couturier's address at 10, avenue George V. Both a dandy and a recluse, he watched his collections displayed from behind a white curtain, becoming a mythical figure who only a privileged few ever had the pleasure to know. And not out of snobbery or affectation. Such man cares little for the world. Rather the world comes to him, and only the finest at that.
His most faithful clients included : the Queen of Spain, the Queen of Belgium, the Duchess of Windsor, Princess Grace of Monaco, all regularly recognized in the press as the best-dressed women in the world.

On May 12, 1958, he is made « Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur ». In the late 60's : at 74, after working in Paris for 30 years, he decided to retire and closed his fashion houses in Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, one after the other.
His last public appearance in Paris was for the funeral of Coco Chanel, who once said that « BALENCIAGA is the only couturier able to design, cut, assemble and sew a dress together entirely by himself ».
On March 24, 1972, the undisputed Master of all the great couturiers - the man who inspired GIVENCHY, UNGARO, SCHERRER, COURREGES and many others - passed away in Valencia

Dark , mysterous - the tone is set for Fall 08.
Check out these pieces from the Christian Lacroix Fashion Week RTW Fall 2008 Paris Runway

"Gn’s dark, sophisticated new palette aligned nicely with the Paris season. So, too, did his now more understated embellishments, like the basket-weave detailing at the collar and cuffs of a cashmere redingote, the hand-finished organza yoke of a high-necked silk blouse, and the braided waistband of a satin cocktail dress.The real question, of course, is whether or not the designer’s high-flying fan club will take to the edgier, less overtly feminine look.” 

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Haute Couture on the runway: Christian LaCroix