Cristobal Balenciaga
opens the fashion show.
Before
The New-Look
,
in particular, on February 14 on Apple TV+, Iberian fiction takes over the world of French haute couture as it was defined from the 1930s.
To discover
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In 1937 precisely, when the Spanish designer (played by Alberto San Juan), famous in his country, crossed the Pyrenees to flee the civil war and try to establish himself in Paris, where Coco Chanel (Anouk Grinberg) already ruled, soon to be joined by Christian Dior (Patrice Thibaud)… The beginnings are difficult, but the designer benefits from the unconditional support of the couple of friends who invested in his “
house
”, the Bizkarrondo, and that of his companion and partner, Wladzio d’Attainville , also “
exiled
”…
Balenciaga on the right David Herranz
Fiction thus unfolds, over thirty years, the big and the little story.
The Occupation.
Francoism.
The developments in the fashion sector towards ever more communication and marketing, its rivalries... And retraces the journey of this creator, son of a modest Basque seamstress, who will revolutionize women's silhouettes with his tonneau line or the balloon jacket.
A perfectionist, obsessive about details, who stubbornly refuses to expose himself.
His biopic turns out to be very academic in both substance and form.
The choice of narration in long flashbacks, in the context of an interview about the end of his life, is also a classic narrative mechanism which was not necessary, providing no added value.
But, if this choice contrasts with the creative genius of the artist, the portrait is no less fascinating, lifting the veil on the mystery that this discreet man has long wished to preserve.