Fashion brand Balenciaga has reportedly cut ties with rapper Kanye West. Kering, French fashion house and parent company of Balenciaga, has released a statement saying, “Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” reports Women’s Wear Daily. 

The rapper stirred controversy after donning a White Lives Matter shirt at the Paris fashion week. He has repeatedly made anti-Semitic statements in public. 

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Who Is Cristobal Balenciaga?

Cristobal Balenciaga was born in 1895 in Getaria, a small village in Basque region of northern Spain. One of the best couturiers of the time, he developed an interest in fashion quite young. His mother was a seamstress who catered to the most fashionable ladies of the village. Balenciaga learnt the art from his mother, and at the young age of 12, became an apprentice at a tailor in neighbouring San Sebastian, where he later established his first fashion house ‘Eisa’ in 1917. 

Balenciaga opened fashion houses in Barcelona and Madrid before he moved to Paris in 1937. His fashion house on Avenue Gorges V quickly reached an influential status, making him the city’s most expensive couturier. Due to his early training, he was adept at the art of couture, which set him apart from other fashion designers at the time. Fellow fashion designer Coco Chanel, the namesake of high-end fashion brand Chanel, praised Balenciaga by calling him ‘couturier in the truest sense of the word.’ 

Balenciaga’s Spanish roots stood as an inspiration for many of his designs. The wide hip Infanta dress being the most significant one drew its inspirations from portraits 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez.

Balenciaga revolutionised women’s fashion in the 1950s, in the later phase of his career. Introduction of sack dress, against rival Christian Dior’s popular hourglass shape design was a radical change in fashion trend, initially met with a lot of criticism. This trend, like many of his radical designs, later became the forerunner in the industry. 

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Balenciaga’s fashion house closed down in 1968 and Cristobal Balenciaga passed away four years later. But the brand was re-launched in 1986 under a series of creative directors. 

Balenciaga has carried on the legacy of its founder, and remains one of the top fashion brand in the world.