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Cristbal Balenciaga was born in Northern Spain in a small village called Guetaria in 1895. His mother was a seamstress and he would watch her work very closely. He trained as a tailor and set up his own dressmaking business in San Sebastian and Madrid. He obtained success in his hometown and gained any clients of high status and wealth. In July 1936 as the Spanish Civil War broke out, Cristobal was forced to close his stores and reposition himself in Paris, the epitome of fashion as its highest. He moved to Paris from Spain in 1937 at the time where nationalism was important in politics in Europe. It was in Paris that Balenciaga became associated with the echelons of Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Mainbocher. In August that year, Balenciaga presented his Oirst runway show at his Avenue George V atelier. The Spanish Renaissance during the 15th and 16th centuries acted as a source of stimulus and inspiration for his collection. The period was Spains Golden Age and represented a new focus on Spanish Literature, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Science. By 1939, Balenciaga was being commended in the French press as a revolutionizing force in fashion, with buyers and customers all over the world desiring to obtain a piece of his collection. He was innovative and dedicated to his work. Each piece in his collection was breath taking, aerodynamic, powerful and harmonious. He was said to have masterful control of drape and proportion. Balenciaga was a mysterious man, privacy meant a great deal to him. In 1941 the Nazis declared a textile rationing system however exemptions were out in place for top designers. Despite this, the couture house of Balenciaga was forced to shut down as they exceeded their fabric allocations. Support was shown as other countries collaborated in helping Oinish the collection. During the 50s Balenciaga experimented and explored with new ideas, methods, cuts, shapes and techniques that would change the future of fashion. He steered away from the styles at the time and challenged the norms, taking risks and setting up on his own. He developed the sack dress, baby-doll dress, cocoon coat and chemise dress. He used heavy fabrics that were suitable for the body and kept the sculptural form. Balenciagas clothes were a form of architecture, structured to perfection. He used textiles to acknowledge the beauty or pure form of the body. In 1968 Cristobal was invited by Air France to design the airlines airhostesss uniforms. Balenciaga took up the challenge and designed uniforms that were practical, elegant, crease- resistant and comfortable. His uniforms had a similar resemblance to his earlier couture collection suits but were now much more about ready-to-wear. However the press and airhostesses were dissatisOied with the outcome saying that Balenciaga was no longer in tune with the major social changes of the time and had designed uniforms that were old fashioned and unsuitable. This reaction of the public led to the end of his career as a designer. Balenciaga still had many loyal clients especially in Spain who were devastated by his departure. As a women said, they came home embalenciagadas from head to toes. The appearance of ready-to-wear and fashion for the youth taking over from couture contributed to Balenciaga retiring in 1968. It was a new generation of self-expression, student revolutions and baby-boomers. Balenciaga was a leader in fashion, a fashion genius and innovator always ahead of the time and a man who to this day is remembered for his creation of the new silhouette. Cecil Beaton said, Balenciaga is fashions Picasso. Cristobal Balenciaga died on March 24, 1972, at his much loved home in Spain. A longtime client offered an appropriate epitaph: "Women did not have to be perfect or even beautiful to wear his clothes. His clothes made them beautiful.