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Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972)

Cristóbal Balenciaga went from seamstress’s son to designer’s designer. In the sixth instalment of BoF’s fashion history series, we learn that the Basque couturier was self-taught and never sketched a single garment. So how did this recluse who preferred his religion to charming the press end up as such a key influence of 20th century fashion?
Cristobal Balenciaga fitting a mannequin in Paris (1968) | Photo: Henri Cartier-Bresson

GETARIA, Spain

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