Suit

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

spring/summer 1952 · linen · Costume Institute

In 1952, Balenciaga introduced the first silhouette that fully and successfully challenged the New Look. By the 1950s, there were many who saw post-war Parisian couture as a battle between two creative titans, Dior and Balenciaga. Attempts by Norman Norell and others to launch an unwaisted silhouette in the late 1940s were unsuccessful; Balenciaga alone had the power to propose and impose a thoroughly different profile.

Artist

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

Date

spring/summer 1952

Medium

linen

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Bettina Ballard, 1958