BALENCIAGA

The brand originally began as an haute-couture Maison founded in 1917, in San Sebastián, Spain by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Cristóbal was born in 1895, in Basque, Spain. He studied fashion on his own. In 1937 he opened an haute-couture maison in Paris, presenting the legendary cocoon line dress and the tunic dress. His strict and sharp design gave a huge impact to the fashion industry. Cristóbal left the brand in 1968, and Nicolas Ghesquière was assigned designer in 1997. From 2001 they joined Kering group. After Nicolas leaving the brand and Alexander Wang taking after the role, Demna Gvasalia was assigned artistic director in 2015. Demna was born in 1981, Georgia. He attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He continues to create popular items which inherits Balenciaga’s couture-like style.