Balenciaga, licensee of
https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epac046
Journal of Design History
© The Author(s) 2022. Published
by Oxford University Press on
behalf of The Design History
Society.
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License (https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0/), which
permits unrestricted reuse,
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Maison Vionnet
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Ana Balda 
Cristóbal Balenciaga’s initial period in Spain (1917–1936), when he was working
to develop himself as a couturier and consolidate his business in the luxury sector,
is less known than his Parisian period (1937–1968), due to the scarcity of available
information. This article analyses the designer as a buyer of haute couture licenses
during that initial period. His biographers claim that in the early years of his
professional development Balenciaga would attend to the presentations of prestigious
French Maisons where he acquired pieces that he later sold in his establishment in San
Sebastián, and that he studied to improve his own technique. Among these Maisons
is that of Madeleine Vionnet. However, the restrictive licensing policy applied by the
French couturière, puts in doubt the idea that Balenciaga had once been authorized
to acquire pieces from her collections. Based on research in the archives of the Musée
des Arts Décoratifs, the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris and the Archives de
Paris, and in the Spanish, French and North American press published between 1920
and 1930, this article provides new findings that confirm the existence of just such a
commercial relationship. It reveals when it emerged, specifies which Vionnet pieces
Balenciaga acquired and studies the influence of Vionnet’s technique and aesthetics on
some of the Basque couturier’s creations prior to his establishment in Paris.
Key words: Cristóbal Balenciaga; Vionnet; dress; fashion design; copyright; interwar
Introduction
This article explains the facet of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s (1895–1972) relationship as a
licensee at Maison Vionnet during his early career in San Sebastián. The scarce eco-
nomic documentation of Balenciaga’s companies, his prominent presence in inter-
national museums and exhibitions, and his reference by the contemporary press as
“The King,” have generated a cliched image of Balenciaga as a genius-creator.1 The
present research does not contradict the artistic side of Balenciaga, but challenges
that approach as advocated by fashion historians such as Christopher Breward, Agnès
Rocamora, and Anneke M. Smelik, with respect to the need to broaden the perspec-
tive of fashion studies.2 Lesley E. Miller began research into Balenciaga from a business
perspective and others have built on this work.3 This article continues such lines of
research from a business perspective and analyses Balenciaga as a purchaser during
the interwar period, contextualizing it as a case study in the research of the economic
history of fashion. Among this scholarship, Alexandra Palmer, Regina L. Blaszczyk, and
Véronique Pouillard, whose work analyzes in depth the commercialization, diversifi-
cation, and internationalization of haute couture, have been particularly impactful.4
Mary L.  Stewart, Pouillard, and Tereza Kuldova, who have focused on the prolifer-
ation of illicit copies of haute couture designs, have also been taken into account.5
These studies analyze Vionnet’s forceful policy in her defense of copyrights during the
interwar period. However, they do not explain that during those years, the designer
1
changed some aspects of that policy and nor do they mention Balenciaga as a licensee
of Vionnet. This article explains that this professional relationship existed precisely be-
cause the Vionnet company modified its licensing strategy.

Born in Getaria, a small coastal town in the Basque Country, in northern Spain in 1917,
Balenciaga founded his own fashion house in San Sebastián, home to the royal sum-
mer resort. In the mid-1920s he was already a couturier of Spanish royalty and high
aristocracy. After opening other venues in Madrid (1933) and Barcelona (1935), the

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outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) accelerated the opening of another
venue in Paris, where he debuted with an initial collection in August 1937.6 From that
moment until his farewell to the fashion world in 1968, Balenciaga’s collections and
innovations were news in the international press, and the most elegant women on the
international scene were among his clients.7 These biographic details of Balenciaga are
published in the works by Marie-Andree Jouve and Jacqueline Demornex, Miller, and
Miren Arzalluz.8 Other researchers has focused on specific aspects of the dressmaker’s
activity. Amalia Descalzo and others have studied the influence of Spanish aesthetics
on his Parisian creations.9

Arzalluz and Berta Pavlov have analyzed the influence of the bias cut of Vionnet on
Balenciaga´s production.10 The numerous exhibitions mounted around the figure of
Balenciaga, since the first one held in 1970 at the Bellerive Museum in Zurich, while he
was still alive, have also generated many publications. The Balenciaga Museum in Getaria,
the designer’s hometown, organized the First International Conference on the designer
in 2020 and a selection of the research presented has been published as a special issue
of Fashion Theory.11 Except for Arzalluz’s volume, and the first chapters of Jouve and
Demornex and Miller, which explain Balenciaga’s origins, his professional beginnings in
San Sebastián and his consolidation as a couturier in Spain until 1936, most of the stud-
ies focus on some aspect of his Parisian production between 1937 and 1968. The small
number of garments preserved from their initial collections in Spain and their absence in
the specialized press before his debut in Paris, explain what little is known of Balenciaga’s
pre-Parisian stage. This article provides new data from that initial period, when he grew
professionally and consolidated himself as a successful couturier in interwar Spain.

The aforementioned biographies on the designer explain that during this time, he
regularly travelled to Paris to see the collections there and purchased some models.12
Madeleine Vionnet’s Maison is cited among those that the couturier’s bibliography men-
tions he frequented. However, the restrictive licensing policy applied by the French cou-
turière, her forceful advertisements in the press alluding to the fact that she had no
authorized agents to sell her creations, and the constant threat of bringing to court
anyone who copied her models, raises questions about the idea that Balenciaga had
once been authorized to acquire pieces from the Vionnet collections. This article confirms
the existence of that commercial relationship, reveals when it emerged, specifies which
Vionnet pieces Balenciaga acquired and studies the influence of Vionnet’s technique and
aesthetics on some of the Basque couturier’s creations at that stage prior to his 1937
Parisian debut. The research has been carried out following the methodology explained
below. After conducting the corresponding bibliographic review on Balenciaga, Vionnet,
and the use of licensing in the French haute couture of the 1920s and 1930s, references
of both were sought in the French, North American, and Spanish press of the time.
Afterwards, material from the Vionnet house, which is scattered in various archives, was
consulted. The accounting books, which are kept in the archive of the Musée des Arts
Décoratifs (hereafter MAD) and collected incomplete data between 1924 and 1929, give
information about which customer bought which model (although sometimes there is no
reference to the model number) and its price, but do not retain images corresponding to

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

2
 the details of the purchases. For this reason, the search was extended to the Bibliothèque
Historique de la Ville de Paris, which preserves sketches of her collections and to the
Archives de Paris, where the photographs corresponding to the registration of her col-
lections in the Institut Nationale de la Propiété Industrielle (thereafter INPI) are located.13
Afterwards, all the information obtained in the primary and secondary sources consulted
was arranged chronologically and cross referenced to build, in the most objective way
possible, a history of the professional relationship between the two couturiers. The article
has been structured as follows: after this introduction, the article explains chronologically

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the evolution of Vionnet’s policy on the issue of copyright during the interwar period, and
then Balenciaga is placed within that context of changes. Finally, and in light of the evi-
dence found, the influence of the French couturière on the Basque couturier’s creations,
dating from his pre-Parisian period, is explained.

The initial context. Vionnet and her licensing policy

The business of haute couture carries an implicit contradiction. On the one hand, it sells
exclusive models to private clients, but on the other, it needs to sell reproduction rights
to diversify sales and thus guarantee its survival. Since the founding of Charles Frederick
Worth’s (1825–1895) couture system, couturiers have sold reproduction licenses of their
designs.14 In addition, the licensing system facilitated the growth of haute couture sales
among potential non-French clientele, especially in the US. The rapid growth of the
Worth house and its competitors Doucet (1853–1929) and Paquin (1869–1936), which
in the 1890s each employed between 400 and 900 workers, is explained by the sale
of licenses to agents and luxury department stores in New York.15 But these sales also
generated the proliferation of unauthorized copies and the consequent damage to the
image of exclusivity of the most prestigious Parisian houses. At the gates of World War
I, illicit copies of designs seriously affected couturiers like Paul Poiret (1879–1944). On
a trip to New York in 1913, he discovered that his brand was being used indiscrimin-
ately, his authorship attributed to dresses that he had not designed, or his creations
reproduced under the names of others.16 Parisian couturiers denounced these illegal
practices. The Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (hereafter CSCP), the highest
regulatory body for French haute couture, defended the couturiers who belonged to the
organization from illicit copying. According to the information kept in the archives of
this institution, the problem of piracy of original designs was one of the issues that most
concerned its members in the early 1920s. As a support measure, the CSCP created in
1921 the Service of Defence against the Copying of Designs (Service de Défense contra
la copy des Modèles) so that those affected could join forces and thus reduce the costs
involved in dealing with the problem individually.17 The house of Vionnet was, already
at that time, one of the most affected by the problem of piracy. The biography, profes-
sional development and work of Madeleine Vionnet (1876–1975), is developed in Betty
Kirke and Pamela Golbin’s reference volumes.18 These works introduce her problems
with illegal copies, but Champsaur and Pouillard go deeper into this specific matter and
explain the dressmaker’s strategy to defend herself from piracy.19

By the end of the First World War, Vionnet had introduced her on-the-bias innovation
to make dresses and this novelty was a success.20 The most elegant women of inter-
national cosmopolitan milieus quickly adopted the trend and the on-the-bias cut made
headlines, not only in the field of the French specialized press, but also internation-
ally.21 This success inevitably led to the proliferation of illegal copies of her designs.
Consequently, the dressmaker was very active in her defense of copyrights. Between
1920 and 1921, she began to publish incessant advertisements in the press, clarifying
that any piece that was not put up for sale by her had not come out of her workshops.
Ana Balda
3
Along the same lines, between April and December 1920, she published various arti-
cles in Le moniteur de l’exportation, on the danger of copies in the fashion industry
and on the need for couturiers to defend themselves.22 Additionally, she began to
systematically register her creations in the Register of Designs and Models, which
existed in Paris, as an additional way of documenting the authorship of her designs.
These registrations followed a 1793 French law, according to which, if a creator in any
field wanted to prove that someone had illegally copied a design, it could be proven
more easily if it had previously been registered.23 Through this practice, Vionnet left no

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doubt about the intellectual property rights on the innovations she was introducing to
fashion. The registration consisted of the deposit of three photographs of the same
design, identified by a collection number. One of the photographs showed the man-
nequin posing from the front, another from the back, and the third in profile. The goal
was to number each design and provide evidence of what it looked like, in detail, from
all three perspectives. This registry holds Vionnet registrations from June 1921 and is
kept at the Archives de Paris. Additionally, that same year she created the Eva Boex
brand to market replicas of her own designs. With this subsidiary she diversified her
haute couture business and reduced the economic damage of illegal copies.24

These activities coincide with Vionnet taking action in court. In 1921, she sued the dress-
maker Henriette Boudreau for copying and selling replicas without her authorization
to a New York department store. Vionnet won the case, the judgment ordered Mrs
Boudreau to pay the Maison Vionnet 12,000 francs in damages and, more importantly, it
served to establish jurisprudence on the misappropriation of artistic or industrial property
in the fashion sector.25 That same year, she created with Louis Dangel—the designer’s
lawyer, fashion house director, consultant, and her representative on these matters—
the Association pour la defense des Arts Plastiques et Appliqués with the sole purpose
of protecting the legitimate authorship of artistic creations.26 The association offered
creators advice on all bureaucratic procedures to register designs, creations, trademarks,
and/or patents, as well as on the legal procedures necessary to defend their intellectual
property rights.27 In addition, on the same dates, Vionnet devised a new way of identi-
fying her original designs: all of them had to be marked with a label that included the
garment’s collection number, the couturière’s personal signature, and her fingerprint.
She announced this in the press, adding that she would reward whoever informed her of
any design for sale under the name of Vionnet that did not meet these requirements on
the label with an amount not less than 1,000 francs.28 The Spanish press also published
these new Vionnet announcements.29 With these measures, any potential copyist was
in a position to know of Vionnet’s policies to protect her intellectual property. Moreover,
this reinforced the exclusive image of her brand and protected her clients, who paid the
stipulated prices for wearing the original designs. Some of them, such as the opera singer
Frances Alda (1879–1952), went so far as to affirm that they had not acquired Vionnet
designs because some New York stores sold replicas of the maison at ridiculous prices.30

Balenciaga, Licensee of Vionnet Since 1924

The adamance of the Vionnet advertisements that were published since the early 1920s,
in reference to the licenses and copies of her designs, do not conform with the accounts
in the reference biographies that claim Balenciaga had been a regular buyer of Vionnet.
In Vionnet’s mindset, Balenciaga could be a potential copyist, and consequently, someone
to be denied entry into her maison. However, the archive of the MAD in Paris holds sales
books from the Maison Vionnet that, in theory, contradict what was previously stated
about the dressmaker and her license sales policy. Research in these books has confirmed
that Balenciaga made purchases several times between 1924 and 1929. This discovery
Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet
4
 extended the research to other archives in search of sketches, and/or photographs, cor-
responding to the models bought by Balenciaga. Table 1 sums up all the findings: the
dates, details, and sketches of these purchases. Figures 1–5 complete the information
in the table, showing the photographs found from 1927 and afterwards. These images
correspond to the illustrations and photographs that the maison used to document each
of the pieces in the collections in the aforementioned Register of Designs and Models.

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Table 1.  Details of the purchases made by Cristóbal Balenciaga at Maison Vionnet.
Date Collection number Description Amount Photo Sketch
paid (French
francs)
5 March Unknown Robe maroc 2,500
1924 rouge
5 March Unknown Robe maroc 2,500
1924 vert
5 March Unknown Robe noire 5,000
1924
5 March Unknown Blouse crêpe 1,500
1924
6 March Unknown 1 metrage 850
1924 noire
8 Unknown Robe rons vert 3,300
September
1924
8 Unknown Robe velrs nf 4,500
September
1924
8 Unknown Robe cr. ch. 2,700
September vert
1924
8 Unknown Robe georg. 4,000
September rose
1924
7 February 3478 Not detailed 3,800 NO https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
1927 ark:/73873/pf0001998012/0012/v0001.simple.
selectedTab=other- docs
16 March 4602 Not detailed 4,100 NO https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
1927 ark:/73873/ pf0001998014/0101/
https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
ark:/73873/pf0001998014/0101/v0001.
simple.highlight=Vionnet%201927%204602.
selectedTab=otherdocs
28 August 3769 Not detailed 4,600 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
1928 ark:/73873/pf0001997973/0033/
https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
ark:/73873/pf0001997973/0033/v0001.
simple.highlight=Vionnet%203769.
selectedTab=otherdocs
5 4833 Robe velrs nf 5,000 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
September ark:/73873/pf0001998623/0035/
1928 https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
ark:/73873/pf0001998623/0035/v0001.
simple.highlight=Vionnet%204833.
selectedTab=otherdocs

Ana Balda
5
Table 1.  Continued

Date Collection number Description Amount Photo Sketch

paid (French
francs)
5 3740 Robe satin 5,100 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
September ark:/73873/pf0001997973/0004/
1928 https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
ark:/73873/pf0001997973/0004/v0001.

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simple.highlight=Vionnet%203740.
selectedTab=otherdocs
5 3769 Robe maroc 4,600 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
September ark:/73873/ pf0001997973/0033/v0001.simple.
1928 selectedTab=other- docs
26 February 3883 Robe satin 4,500 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
1929 noire et ark:/73873/pf0001999117/0076/v0001.simple.
Romain selectedTab=otherdocs
5 March 4932 Robe foul 8,500 X https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/
1929 ark:/73873/pf0001998012/0012/v0001.simple.
selectedTab=otherdocs

Taking into account this evidence in light of all the previous information from Vionnet
regarding her policy of not selling licenses and not selling through third parties, could
Balenciaga be considered an exception to this policy? Several facts would negate this pos-
sibility. In the first place, Vionnet herself stated that that she began working with agents
in October 1923, when the Charles and Ray company presented for the first time a collec-
tion from the designer in the US: “Until then, I had always refused to work with agents.
I wanted to dress women, and the idea of the anonymous clientele was contrary to every-
thing I wished for.”31 The American newspaper Women´s Wear Daily reported for several
days in September 1923 on the negotiations and the final agreement reached between
Vionnet and this firm to market the dressmaker’s designs in the US. This agreement did
not mean at all that Vionnet decided to relax her fight against piracy, quite the contrary.
According to Charles and Ray’s representative, they were going to take all the necessary
precautions to avoid piracy and announced that the 50 Vionnet designs that the brand
had received to exclusively reproduce and market were going to be registered in the cor-
responding Registry in Washington and added that anyone marketing illicit reproductions
would be taken to court.32 So that there would be no doubt in this regard, the same
newspaper published on successive days advertisements for Charles and Ray, a company
that identified itself as the “Sole Authorised Reproducer of Vionnet models in the USA.”33

Furthermore, the same newspaper published in February 1924 that the couturière had
announced that her collection of dresses could also be seen in the Hickson department
store in the US.34 The following September, the Franklin Simon and Co. establishment
made public the sale of original Vionnet replicas.35 In addition, another US enterprise,
the Bonwit Teller department store, prestigious for its sale of original French haute cou-
ture models, also appears as buyer in the maison’s purchase book for September 1924.36

All these facts confirm that in 1923 Vionnet changed her commercial strategy with
respect to the sale of her designs through third parties. The policy change coincides
with the corporate modifications of the Vionnet company, which occurred between
1922 and 1923. In June 1922, Théophile Bader (1864–1942), cofounder of Galleries
Lafayette, became a shareholder in Vionnet and Co. He contributed 200,000 francs

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

6

Fig 1.  Dress purchased by
Balenciaga. 1928 Vionnet
Autumn-Winter Collection.
©Archives de Paris/Roger-Viollet.
Ana Balda
to the previous share capital of 500,000
francs, joining May Lillaz (1881–1949)
and Émile Akar (1876–1940), the two ori-
ginal Vionnet shareholders. This capital in-
flow was accompanied by a profit-sharing
agreement of 40% for Vionnet and 20%
for each of the other three sharehold-
ers. In January 1923, Edouard Martínez
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de la Hoz (1896–1974) replaced Akar,
who sold his shares for personal rea-
sons.37 The new incorporations, who had
entered the company because they saw
clear business opportunities, would have
defended a policy favorable to the sale of
licenses, and would explain the change in
Vionnet’s policy.
At the same time, the corporate changes
were accompanied by the move of
Vionnet’s headquarters. In 1912, at the
start of her business, it had occupied a dis-
creet, and not very spacious, property on
Rue Rivoli. Interrupted by the World War
I, the business did not begin to flourish
until 1919, once it had launched its bias
cut designs. Growth in clientele required
a change of headquarters, but if the com-
pany also planned to sell to commission
agents and department stores that could
replicate designs, it needed to present and
produce the collections in a space that was
consistent with that potential professional
clientele. The new space found its head-
quarters at Avenue Montagne, rented to
Bader and his cousin Khan, where they organized new workspaces to increase ef-
ficiency in coming up with designs.38 A  letter from Bader to Vionnet, dated 1924,
encouraged her to shed her fear of copies and suggested she focus on reducing the
costs of producing models and improving efficiency in the implementation process.
This, he concluded, would allow for more competitive pricing of Vionnet originals and
discourage the illegitimate copy industry by reducing its profit margin.39
These ideas from Bader confirm that the new shareholders were the driving force be-
hind the strategy of selling through third parties and that one of the main objectives
of the spatial configuration of the new headquarters was to increase the efficiency of
manufacturing to minimize the problem of illicit copies.
The neutrality of Spain in the First World War consolidated the Spanish market for
French fashion. Thus, Vionnet, but also Chanel and other renowned Parisian fashion
houses, looked to Spain to increase sales. Her presence in Madrid, capital of the
kingdom, and in San Sebastián, the Royal Family’s summer vacation choice, to show
her summer and winter collections, was constant during the months of February/March
and August/September of the 1920s. Balenciaga would follow Vionnet’s fashion inno-
vations through the press and through Queen Victoria Eugenia’s (1887–1969) public
7
appearances. Contemporary fashion pho-
tography shows Victoria Eugenia dressed
in the latest trends at various institutional
events held in San Sebastián. In one image
she wears the famous handkerchief dress,
which Vionnet had launched in 1919.40
Furthermore, Vionnet visited San Sebastián
in 1920. For 15  days in that September,

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she showed her collection for the follow-
ing winter at the Savoy Hotel in the city.
The reviews of the time state that Queen
Victoria Eugenia was present.41 It is diffi-
cult to imagine that Balenciaga was not
aware of this presentation in his own city.
However, in its announcement in the local
press, it was expressly stated that Vionnet
did not sell to commission agents or dress-
makers.42 This statement rules out the
presence of Balenciaga at the event, who
at this time was a couturier with his own
headquarters in San Sebastián.43

The chronological study of the announce-

ments of the Vionnet presentations in Spain
published in the Spanish press provides
further confirmation that toward the end
of 1923, the designer changed her policy
regarding sales to agents. Between 1920
and 1923, these announcements made a
clear reference to the fact that they did not
sell through third parties, or to dressmak-
ers, since the reproduction of their designs
was prohibited.44 But as of February 1924,
their advertisements only emphasize that
any reproduction is prohibited and that their authors will be prosecuted, without ex- Fig 2.  Dress purchased by
pressly referring to not selling through commission agents.45 Balenciaga. 1928 Vionnet
Autumn-Winter Collection.
©Archives de Paris/Roger-Viollet.
As can be seen in table 1, March 1924 is the first evidence that has been found show-
ing Balenciaga bought from Vionnet. The change in the designer’s policy regarding
sales to third parties occurred, as previously explained, in October 1923 and the new
advertisements for the couturière were published from February 1924. These facts
would confirm that Balenciaga bought for the first time at Vionnet in March 1924, not
before, and that he was one of the first licensees of the French couturière, although
at this time he already had previous experience as a licensee of other Parisian haute
couture houses. Press advertisements from the time confirm that, as early as November
1918, he was selling several Lanvin designs at his establishment in San Sebastián.46

In addition, these first purchases by Balenciaga were made at Vionnet’s new Paris lo-
cation. She also presented her collections in Madrid and Seville in February and March
1924, so Balenciaga would have been able to purchase her models without leaving
Spain on the same dates.47 But the annotation “Hotel Raynaud,” in reference to an
existing hotel in Paris at the time, together with the couturier’s name on Vionnet´s books,
makes one think it was Balenciaga’s delivery address in the city and would confirm that

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

8

Fig 3.  Dress purchased by
Balenciaga. 1928 Vionnet
Autumn-Winter Collection.
©Archives de Paris/Roger-Viollet.
Ana Balda
he made these initial purchases at the new
Avenue Montaigne headquarters. At that
time he was also replacing his headquar-
ters in San Sebastián for a restored and bet-
ter located building in the city; it is logical
that he was interested in having first-hand
knowledge and taking ideas from the new
Vionnet headquarters, which the entire
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sector was talking about because of its in-
novative art deco decoration of its salons
and its modern facilities.48
The process to become a licensee at
Vionnet could not have been easy. The
clients needed an invitation to attend the
shows; consequently, it is logical that at
this initial stage of establishing commer-
cial relationships with agents, the cou-
turière established a rigorous control of
access to those she had previously con-
sidered as potential unauthorised copy-
ists. In 1923 Balenciaga had women from
the Spanish monarchy among his clients,
including Queen Victoria Eugenia de
Borbón and Battenberg.49 At the time it
could have been the queen herself, who
had been a good client of Vionnet since
the time of her location at rue Rivoli,
that provided the French designer with
good references for Balenciaga.50 Or,
perhaps, around that time Vionnet had
met Mr. D´Attainville (unknown-1948),
Balenciaga’s partner, who was socially
well-connected with the clientele of
French haute couture houses. He too could have provided Balenciaga with access
to Vionnet.51 Be that as it may, that was the beginning of a close professional rela-
tionship, which became one of friendship and mutual admiration. In a 1961 article
on the bias cut and the French dressmaker published in Women’s Wear Daily, the
journalist references the relationship between the two. Noting that on one occa-
sion when Vionnet visited Balenciaga at his headquarters in Barcelona and saw
his designs, she declared: “I don’t see why you need to buy from me, your own
clothes are so beautiful.”52 If, indeed, Vionnet visited the couturier in Barcelona, it
had to be between 1935,53 the year of the beginning of Balenciaga’s activity there,
and July 1936, the moment of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, in which
the couturier ceased his activity in the city, until 1940, once the hostilities ended.
Considering that Vionnet closed her fashion house in 1939, at the beginning of the
Second World War, the window of opportunity for a visit by Vionnet to Balenciaga
in Barcelona was limited. It is also unlikely that Vionnet would have waited nine
years, from 1924 to 1935, to see first-hand the designs of one of her regular buy-
ers, who could have been a dangerous potential unauthorised copyist in Spain.
It is more likely that, in that interview, Vionnet commented that she had visited
Balenciaga at his headquarters in Spain, and that it was the journalist who placed
9
the couturier in Barcelona. The city was
the headquarters of other Spanish ref-
erences in international fashion in the
1960s, the year of the interview, such as
that of Manuel Pertegaz (1918–2014) or
Pedro Rodríguez (1895–1990).

Juan Emilas, a Balenciaga cutter

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employed since the beginning of the
Balenciaga house in 1917, spoke of a
visit by Vionnet to the first Balenciaga
headquarters, located on Vergara Street
in San Sebastián until 1924.54 This visit
could have taken place shortly before
1924, when the board of directors of
the Maison Vionnet had already made
the decision to sell licenses. In this case,
it had to be a private visit because the
local press did not mention any presen-
tation of her collections in San Sebastián.
Or, it could have been in 1928. On
September 8th of that year, the Gran
Casino of San Sebastián held a Vionnet
show described by the press as a “true
aristocratic event” due to the large, yet
select crowd that attended.55 It is lo-
gical to think that Balenciaga, already a
regular buyer of Vionnet’s, would take
advantage of that visit from the designer
to his city to invite her to his headquar-
ters and show her his original creations.
Consequently, that the conversation
mentioned above between the two had
taken place on that occasion.
Fig 4.  Dress purchased by
Balenciaga. 1928 Vionnet
Spring-Summer Collection.
A matter of business strategy ©Archives de Paris/Roger-Viollet.

In 1923, the Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930) government banned gambling in

Spain.56 The ban negatively affected the boom in luxury tourism that San Sebastián
enjoyed as the royal summer vacation destination, and consequently, businesses such
as Balenciaga’s, which were dependent on an elite clientele. In addition, Balenciaga
had already begun to suffer from the problem of illicit copying at the local level. To
counteract this, the couturier decided to diversify his business: he expanded from his
haute couture line to making less expensive collections. In 1927, he began market-
ing these new versions under the name Martina Robes et Manteaux and soon after
changed the brand name to EISA Costura. In 1932, the name was changed again to
EISA B.  E. With the commercialization of models under these secondary brands he
reduced the impact of illicit copies and the dependence on elite buyers.57 Many women
from Gipuzkoa and women from neighboring provinces chose the EISA brand to wear
at weddings and large family events. The research into periodicals that were aimed at
a local, not exclusively elitist, audience, confirms that EISA was an establishment in

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

10

Fig 5.  Dress purchased by
Balenciaga. 1929 Vionnet
Spring-Summer Collection.
©Archives de Paris/Roger-Viollet.
Ana Balda
San Sebastián known for buying the latest
fashion in day dresses.58
In addition, in 1924, when Balenciaga
could start shopping at Vionnet’s, an eco-
nomic situation was emerging that, if
properly managed, could help reduce the
impact of the gambling law and increase
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his prestige as an exclusive couturier in the
city. Since the First World War, the French
franc was undergoing a progressive de-
valuation with respect to the peseta.59
This fact favored purchases in francs and
sales in pesetas. This exchange rate trend
explains why, during the interwar period,
numerous French haute couture houses
were present in Spain looking to obtain
higher margins.60 This scenario was also
advantageous for Balenciaga when buy-
ing licensed models from French maisons.
Besides, the acquisitions from Vionnet
helped him reinforce, in his own city, his
prestige as a couturier who sold, in add-
ition to his own original designs, oth-
ers under license from reputed Parisian
houses. Thus, a resident or visitor in San
Sebastián could wear exclusive brands
such as Vionnet without having to travel
to Paris, something that was inconvenient
and expensive, considering that, as this
was haute couture, making a finished gar-
ment involved several try-on sessions.
The bias-cut dresses that the couturière
had introduced in the late 1910s had a
strong impact on fashion, especially in the second half of the following decade and
continued to prevail throughout the 1930s. Proof that there was demand for this
fashion appears in the local press and archival photographs from that time in San
Sebastián, which show a prominent presence of wedding dresses cut on the bias. It
is logical that Balenciaga would want to sell original models, or versions he devel-
oped, of this fashion at his San Sebastián establishment. One of the few models
preserved from this early stage of Balenciaga belongs to the Balenciaga Museums´
collection. The institution received a donation in 2017 of a 1927 wedding dress. The
research carried out by the museum’s conservation team, which was presented at
the I  Cristóbal Balenciaga International Conference, concluded that the dress was
influenced by Vionnet patterns and it had been made in the couturier’s workshop in
San Sebastián.61
The local press of the time cite Balenciaga as the author of some bridal dresses.
For these cases, this research focused first on looking for direct similarities with the
designs shown in figures  1–5. Since none were found, equivalences with other
Vionnet creations were looked for. The CSCP expressly prohibited those attending
the fashion shows from taking photographs or making sketches of the designs
11
that were presented. But for an outstanding
couturier like Balenciaga, who attended those
presentations as a purchaser, it was easy to in-
ternalize and record the aesthetics that caught
his attention, once he had left the fashion show.
Jouve’s book, which compiles documentation
from the archive of Balenciaga’s Paris headquar-
ters, collects some of these sketches of Vionnet

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designs, drawn by Balenciaga on stationery with
letterheads from different Parisian hotels.62 It
was not about copying, but about investigat-
ing Vionnet’s innovations to propose designs
with his own Balenciaga label. From this point
of view, Marta de Satrústegui’s wedding dress,
designed by Balenciaga, stands out (figure  6).
She belonged to a prominent San Sebastián
family and was married on July 28, 1930. The
skirt of her dress, made with a pattern of two
ruffles on the bias and with central cuts at the
hips that helped to stylise her silhouette, was
one of the novel designs in the Vionnet collec-
tion presented in March of that same year, as is
made evident from the research carried out in
the INPI archives. On that occasion, Vionnet pre-
sented the design in a shorter version for a day
dress, identified as number 3086.63 Balenciaga
developed this skirt idea and gave it his own
style, rounding off the ruffles and turning it into
a wedding dress.

In April 1934, Harper’s Bazaar declared “Vionnet

goes into puffs” and published a photograph of
one of the designer’s evening dresses, which fea-
tured wide puffed sleeves.64 The dress corresponds
to model 4737 from her 1934 spring–summer collection. Its sketch is among those Fig 6.  Marta de Satrústegui
at the INPI.65 This type of sleeve was one of the innovations from the spring-summer dressed by Balenciaga on her
collection of that year. Vogue published, also in April, a photograph of an evening wedding day. San Sebastián 28
July 1930. ©Kutxateka. Photo
coat with puffed sleeves made of black silk taffeta.66 Harper’s Bazaar published an Carte. Ricardo Martín.
illustration of an equivalent Vionnet coat from the same collection.67 Research at the
INPI reveals that the dressmaker came up with various designs with this type of sleeve,
also for daytime versions, such as the one registered with number 6705 (figure 7).68
Balenciaga also developed puffed sleeve patterns as they were the new fashion accord-
ing to the most relevant specialized publications. The Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum
preserves an evening coat of these characteristics, made in the San Sebastián workshop
in 1935, which bears the EISA B.E. label.69 It follows a pattern similar to dress 6705
by Vionnet that Balenciaga developed into an evening version, adding a small tuxedo
collar with a V-shape at the back.70

These examples show that Balenciaga studied the garments he bought from
Vionnet as well as others that, presumably, he saw at presentations of other col-
lections he attended, as well as in the specialized press, which determined fashion
trends.71

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

12

Fig 7.  Coat number 6705.
1934 Vionnet Summer
Collection. ©Ville de Paris/
Bibliothèque historique.
Ana Balda
Conclusion
The article is a contribution to recent
studies on the internationalization and
politics of licenses in Parisian haute cou-
ture because it confirms that Balenciaga
was a licensee of Vionnet in the early
years of his business in Spain and justifies
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that professional relationship in the con-
text of the changes in the Vionnet house
with respect to licenses. In addition, it
extends the geography of studies on the
economic history of fashion, which is still
too focused on the North American and
British markets, to Spain.72
Balenciaga is known for his fight against
the illicit copying of his models during the
1950s and 1960s. In that battle, and with
the aim of avoiding any leaks of informa-
tion that would harm his buyers, he went
so far as to exclude the press from his
fashion shows. However, we know that
by the second half of the 1920s he was
trying to fight these illicit copies through
secondary brands that reproduced his
haute couture designs at more afford-
able prices. The facet of Balenciaga as a
licensee of Vionnet that this article con-
tributes to the literature, helps to better
understand the couturier’s own struggle
with the issue of copyrights: he was al-
ready working from the start with the
clear idea that the haute couture business
was based on the innovative capacity of the couturiers and that this implied respecting
their legitimate authorship.
The article has also contextualized with new data the creative and aesthetic influence,
already studied, of Vionnet’s bias cuts on Balenciaga’s work and has shown that there
was a commercial link between them that explains that influence. This link began in
1924 when Vionnet changed her policy of not selling models through third parties.
Vionnet’s accounting books, which are preserved but incomplete until 1929, confirm
that Balenciaga was still acquiring dresses from Vionnet at that time. Images 1–5 and
the sketches (see link in Table 1) on these purchases show that Balenciaga was inter-
ested in Vionnet’s innovative cut on the bias. Selling garments with the Vionnet label
helped position his business in the luxury segment in San Sebastián. But also, by having
them in stock, he could study them in depth to improve his own technique. The article
confirms, with two concrete examples, that the couturier developed technical and aes-
thetic ideas introduced into fashion by Madeleine Vionnet, to create his own designs.
These examples do not exhaust research in this technical-aesthetic field, but rather,
they open a new line of research on the evolution of the technical solutions in pattern
making from the early innovations of the French dressmaker to Cristóbal Balenciaga’s
13
latest designs. Similarly, the research in the archives that have been key to this article
expands the field of study on Vionnet’s commercial relationships and creative influence
on other couturiers, department stores, and manufacturing companies of her day.

Ana Balda
Visiting Lecturer, Department Audiovisual Communication, School of Communication,
University of Navarra, Campus Universitario s/n. 31009 Pamplona, Spain
Email: abarana@external.unav.es

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Dr. Ana Balda is an independent curator and fashion consultant. She teaches Fashion
History and Fashion Illustration and Photography on the International Programme in
Fashion Communication of the University of Navarra. She has collaborated with the
Cristobal Balenciaga Museum on various projects and is the author of several articles
published in specialized journals.

Funding
This text is the result of a research that began with a project carried out for the
Balenciaga Museum (Getaria, Spain) in 2017 and has been partially financed by this
institution.

Conflict of interest statement. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the

author.

Notes 67–86; L. Tregenza, “Copying a Master: London Wholesale

1 “Americans Hail Balenciaga as King of Paris Fashion,”
Women’s Wear Daily (August 4, 1958): 1; “Balenciaga
Wins, Keeps the Worlds Title,” Women’s Wear Daily
(February 28, 1962): 1; “Balenciaga Still Wears the Paris
Crown,” Women’s Wear Daily (August 4, 1966): 1.
2 L. Cerrillo, “Cristóbal Balenciaga: An Artistic
Temperament,” Balenciaga. Cristóbal Balenciaga
Museoa Catalogue (San Sebastián: Nerea, 2011), 60–79;
C.  Breward, “Foreword,” in Fashion Studies: Research
Methods, Sites, and Practices (London: Bloomsbury,
2016), XVII; A.  Rocamora, A.  M. Smelik, eds., Thinking
through Fashion: A  Guide to Key Theorists (London:
Tauris, 2016), 2.
3 L. E.  Miller, “Commercial Strategy,” Balenciaga (London:
V&A, 2007), 60–79; L.  E. Miller, “Commercial Culture,”
Balenciaga (London: V&A, 2016), 89–114; A.  Balda,
“Models Wearing Balenciaga in the Fashion Press.
A  Comparative Study,” International Journal of Fashion
Studies 2, no.  2, (2015): 203–23; A.  Balda, “Balenciaga
and la vie d́´un chien,” Fashion Theory 25, no.  6
(2021): 855–71; A.  Balda, “Balenciaga: Addressing
Misconceptions Concerning His Fashion Press Policies,”
International Journal of Fashion Studies 9, no.  1 (2022):
Couture and Cristóbal Balenciaga in the 1950s,” Fashion
Theory 25, no. 4 (2021): 457–79.
4 A. Palmer, Couture Commerce (Vancouver: UBC Press,
2001); R.  L. Blaszczyk, Producing Fashion: Commerce,
Culture, and Consumers (Hagley Perspectives on Business
and Culture) (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
Press), 2007; V.  Pouillard, “Design Piracy in the Fashion
Industries of Paris and New York in the Interwar Years,”
Business History Review 85, no.  2 (2011): 319–44;
V.  Pouillard, “Fashion for All? The Transatlantic Fashion
Business and the Development of a Popular Press Culture
During the Interwar Period,” Journalism Studies 14, no. 5
(2013): 716–29; R.  L. Blaszczyk, V.  Pouillard, “Fashion
as Enterprise,” in European Fashion. The Creation of a
Global Industry (Manchester: Manchester University Press,
2018); V.  Pouillard, Paris to New York. The Transatlantic
Fashion Industry in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge,
Massachusetts, & London: Harvard University Press, 2021),
11–42.
5 M. L.  Stewart, “Copying and Copyrighting Haute
Couture: Democratizing Fashion,” French Historical
Studies 28, no. 1 (2005), 112–28; V. Pouillard, T. Kuldova,
“Interrogating Intellectual Property Rights in Post-war
Fashion and Design,” Journal of Design History 30, no. 4

Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet

14
 (2017): 343–55; V.  Pouillard, “The Milton Case (1955–
1962). Defending the Intellectual Property Rights of Haute
Couture in the United States,” Journal of Design History
30, no. 4 (2017), 356–70.
6 The couturiers Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Pedro
Rodríguez also emigrated to Paris because of the Spanish
civil war. Castillo worked there as a designer for the Paquin
and Lanvin maisons. Rodríguez returned to Spain once the
war was over. His brand is a reference for Spanish fashion
from the 1950s and 1960s.
19 F. B.  Champsaur, “Madeleine Vionnet and Galeries
7 The Barrel Line (1947), the Semi-Fitted (1951), the Tunic
Line (1955), the Sack Dress (1957), the Balloom Dress
(1957), the Peacock Line (1958) are among the most rec-
ognized innovations by Balenciaga.
8 M. A. Jouve, J. Demornex, Balenciaga (New York: Rizzoli,
1989); L.  E. Miller, Balenciaga. Shaping Fashion (London:
V&A, 2016); M.  Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a
Master (1895–1936) (London: V&A, 2011).
9 A. Descalzo, Genio y figura. The influence of Spanish
Culture in Fashion (Madrid: Ministerio de Educación,
Cultura y Deporte. Área de Cultura, 2006); A.  Balda,
“Cristóbal Balenciaga. Explorations in Traditional Spanish
Aesthetics,” Costume 53 (2019): 161–85.
10 Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a Master, 236–67;
B.  Pavlov, “Cristóbal Balenciaga: Master of Geometric
Design,” in I International Cristóbal Balenciaga Conference
Proceedings, ed. A.  Balda (Getaria: Cristóbal Balenciaga
Foundation), 81–99.
11 Fashion Theory, 2021, vols 25–4. The proceedings of
the Conference are also available on the website of
the museum, https://www.cristobalbalenciagamu-
seoa.com/descubre/publicaciones/ (accessed August
20, 2021).
12 Pouillard, “Branding Haute Couture,” Paris to New York,
43–68; Jouve, Balenciaga, 31; Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The
Making of a Master, 128; L. E. Miller, Balenciaga. Shaping
Fashion, 51.
13 Bibliothèque du MAD/UFAC/Fonds Madeleine Vionnet;
Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris 8-ICOR-00400;
INPI, Dessins et Modeles, Madeleine Vionnet; Archives de
Paris, Dessins et Modeles, D12U10.
14 E. A. Coleman, The Opulent Era: Fashions of Worth, Paquin
and Doucet (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1989), 35–36.
15 L. M. Font, “International Couture: The Opportunities and
Challenges of Expansion, 1880–1920,” Business History
54, no. 1 (2012): 30–47.
16 P. Poiret, King of Fashion (London: V&A, 2009), 139.
17 V. Pouillard, “Managing Fashion Creativity. The History of
the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne during the
Ana Balda
Interwar Period,” Investigaciones de Historia Económica
(Economic History Research) 12 (2016): 82.
18 B. Kirke, Madeleine Vionnet (San Francisco: Chronicle
Books, 1998); P.  Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet (New York:
Rizzoli, 2009); Anne Bissonnette explains that Kirke dis-
covered Vionnet’s innovative talent and technique through
Balenciaga’s work: A.  Bissonnette, “Doing History with
Objects: Betty Kirke and Madeleine Vionnet,” Fashion
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Theory 19, no. 3, (2015): 286.
Lafayette: The Unlikely Marriage of a Parisian Couture
House and a French Department Store, 1922–40,” Business
History 54, no.  1 (2012): 48–66; Pouillard, “Branding
Haute Couture,” Paris to New York, 43–68.
20 Kirke, Madeleine Vionnet, 54.
21 “The newest flower of the Paris spring,” Vogue, June 1,
1919, 49; “New French Play Shows Vionnet and Jenny
Robes,” Women’s Wear Daily, February 17, 1920, 10.
22 Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet, 293.
23 P. Simon, Monographie d’une industrie de luxe: la haute
couture (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1931), 155.
24 Buyers in the sector thought for a while that Eva Boex was
a young entrepreneur. The prices of the replicas under this
brand name were sold for between 800 and 1,000 francs,
while Vionnet’s originals were sold for more than double.
Pouillard, Paris to New York, 51, 52.
25 “Contrefaçon,” Le Figaro (January 15, 1923): 8.
26 D. Grumbach, Histoires de la Mode (Paris: Editions du
Regard, 2008), 27.
27 Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet, 30.
28 “Têtes mises a prix,” Le Figaro (March 16, 1921): 3.
29 “Madeleine Vionnet,” ABC Madrid (February 25, 1921): 32.
30 Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a Master, 147.
31 Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet, 295.
32 “Charles & Ray Conclude Deal With Vionnet,” Women’s
Wear Daily (September 17, 1923), cover.
33 Women’s Wear Daily (October 9, 1923): 26.
34 “Retail Dress Announcements Reflect Influence of Recent
Paris Openings,” Women’s Wear Daily (February 25,
1924): 20.
35 “Vionnet Models Outstanding Feature in Private Showing
of Paris Originals,” Women’s Wear Daily (September 16,
1924): 10.
36 Vionnet purchase book, September 1924. MAD, Paris.
37 Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet, 295.
38 Golbin, Madeleine Vionnet, 294.
15
 39 Champsaur, “Madeleine Vionnet”, 58.
40 As seen in the photograph number 85252370 kept at the
photographic archive Kutxateka https://www.kutxateka.
eus/Detail/objects/110760/s/12 (accessed May 20, 2021).
41 “El lujo en San Sebastián,” La Época (September 11,
1920): 2.
42 “Madeleine Vionnet”, La Época (September 5, 1920): 2.
43 Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a Master, 116–21.
44 “Madeleine Vionnet,” ABC Madrid (February 25, 1921):
15; ABC Madrid (February 25, 1923): 32.
45 ABC Madrid (February 23, 1924): 23; ABC Madrid (March
4, 1925): 24; ABC Madrid (March 8, 1927): 30; ABC Madrid
(March 20, 1927): 37; ABC Madrid (March 20, 1927): 37;
ABC Madrid (March 3, 1928): 17; ABC Madrid (February
27, 1929): 26; ABC Madrid (March 29, 1930): 25; ABC
Madrid (February 25, 1930): 29; ABC Madrid (February 28,
1931): 38.
46 El Liberal (November 1, 1918): 4; El Heraldo de Madrid
(November 1, 1918): 5.
47 ABC Madrid (February 23, 1924): 23.
48 Harper´s Bazaar (April 1925): 54; J.  Berry. House of
Fashion Haute Couture and the Modern Interior (London:
Bloomsbury, 2018), 46–50.
49 Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a Master,  135.
50 Kirke, Madeleine Vionnet, 118.
51 Vogue, 15 November 1947, 123.
52 “Mme. Vionnet, at 86, Still Strongly Slanted to Bias Cut,”
Women´s Wear Daily (November 6, 1961): 1.
53 The first advertisement of a Balenciaga show in Barcelona
is dated in December 1935 (“Otras notas,” La Vanguardia
(December 4, 1935): 13).
54 M. Emilas, Balenciaga. Mi jefe (Madrid: Punto Rojo), 110.
55 “Gran Casino,” El Pueblo Vasco (September 9, 1928): 5.
56 Unsain, San Sebastián, 223.
57 Martina, alluding to his mother’s name. In October 1927,
Balenciaga replaced it with EISA Costura. “Cristóbal
Balenciaga. Fashion and Heritage. Context,” 2019, Getaria:
Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, 38; EISA Costura alludes to
Eizaguirre, Balenciaga’s mother’s surname. This subsidiary
was active between 1927 and 1932. In 1932, he created an-
other called EISA B.  E. The initials B.  E correspond to the
initials of Balenciaga’s own surnames (Balenciaga Eizaguirre);
Arzalluz, Balenciaga. The Making of a Master, 153–5.
58 “El veraneo de nuestras artistas,” El Pueblo Vasco, 16
August 1932, 6. The article suggests the idea of combining
16
the EISA dress with a beret from the local brand “Berets
Elósegui,” which was also known for selling berets to peas-
ants and those of humble extraction.
59 P. Martínez, Nuevos datos sobre la evolución de la peseta
1900-1936. Additional Information. Work document nº
9011 (Madrid: Bank of Spain Study Services, 1990). https://
www.bde.es/f/webbde/SES/Secciones/Publicaciones/
PublicacionesSeriadas/DocumentosTrabajo/90/Fich/
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dt_9011.pdf (accessed May 21, 2021).
60 During the 1920s, various Parisian haute couture firms,
such as Poiret, Callot Soeurs, Lanvin, Heim, Chanel, and
Vionnet, presented their collections in renowned hotels in
Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, San Sebastián, and Seville.
61 R. Valentín, “A Wedding Dress Attributed to Cristóbal
Balenciaga,” in I International Cristóbal Balenciaga
Conference Proceedings, 67–80.
62 Jouve, Balenciaga, 29.
63 “[F. 8v-F. 9r]. Eté 1930 Robes de jour. 3086. José.
Robe 2 volants en mousseline marine sur fond rose”,
https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/
pf0002000001/0009 (accessed May 25, 2021).
64 Harper’s Bazaar, April 1934, 108–9.
65 “[F. 8v-F. 9r]. Evening dress. 4737. Renée. Purple Satin
Dress”, https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/
pf0002001913/0012 (accessed May 25, 2021).
66 Vogue, April 1934, 46.
67 Harper’s Bazaar, April 1934, 87.
68 “[F. 36v-F. 37r]. Wool Dresses & Coats. 6705. Lucienne.
Navy wool velvet coat. Green,” https://bibliotheques-
specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0002001914/0044
(accessed May 25, 2021).
69 Balenciaga. Catalogue of the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum
(San Sebastián: Nerea, 2011), 96–7.
70 Catalog number of the coat: CBM 2006.85. See the details
of the coat at the digital catalog of the Museum, https://
apps.euskadi.eus/emsime/catalogo/titulo-abrigo-de-
noche-en-tafetan-de-seda-de-color-negro/objeto-abrigo/
ciuVerFicha/museo-93/ninv-CBM%202006.85 (accessed
August 30, 2021).
71 G. Lipovetsky, El imperio de lo efímero (Madrid: Anagrama,
2010), 111.
72 The work of L.  Taylor and M.  McLoughlin, Paris
Fashion  and  World War Two: Global Diffusion and
Nazi  Control (London: Bloomsbury, 2020)  has recently
expanded the research to Portugal, Denmark, Switzerland,
Belgium, Austria, and Brazil. However, it does not
include Spain.
Balenciaga, licensee of Maison Vionnet