Balenciaga Paris

This book tells us that from 1943 to 1968 Balenciaga produced 9051 silhuettes, of those a little over 70 are shown in photographs here. The book also tells us that from 1998 to 2006 Nicolas Ghesquière produced 736 looks for the fashion house, of those around 80 are pictured. Editor Pamela Golbin doesn`t justify or explain her choices, but it seems like the budget might have been the concern.. Mainly the book is a collection of contemporary pressnotes, paired sparsely with illustrations. Some of these are good, even great, but it left me wondering why it`s so hard to do decent books on fashion. If you want to see the outfits by Ghesquière go to firstview.com, style.com or collection magazine backissues. Cristóbal Balenciaga`s work is another matter, maybe there is a great fashion archive near you, or not.

If you were to buy just one book dealing with fashion, make it this book. It's a fabulous volume that goes beyond the typical pictures with hardly any captions or relation to the time period approach. Instead, you get it all: the fantastic images that make you think - oh my, such and such borrowed this idea for this and that collection, over and over again! Plus you learn about the history of this interesting man, his attempts to start his own business, etc. It's like reading a personal journal/album - the most rewarding and lasting pleasure!

Balenciaga is my favourite designer so naturally I had to own this book. I bought it used and would have dished out the money for a new book.The book is filled with iconic images and sketches from various Balenciaga collections. It reads like a very interesting timeline as it literally starts at the beginning of the house. Regrettably, the book only reaches to the 2007 FW collection. If they ever release an updated version I will be sure to consider it. :)

My third book on Balenciaga and what a thrill it is. But if you love his work as much as me, you can never get enough. To my great relief more than half the book is on 'the master' and not the 'new guy'. Nothing nice to say about the new guy, so best not to say anything.....BUT the other....I'm a nut for fashion (lots of the great designers I like) but Balenciaga was inspired by Heaven, I think. I wish I could have been at one of his shows!

The definitive "encyclopedia" on Snr. Balanciaga. Exhaustive and very fascinating research. The photos are breathtaking. When you start to look around, you see his influence everywhere!