Pierre Balmain
(1914-1982)
Pierre Balmain was born in Saint Jean de Maurienne, France in 1914. He is considered one of the greatest tailors of the century. He studied at the school of Architecture, in Paris, France for a year, before taking a position as a sketch artist with the fashion house of Robert Piguet in 1934.
He worked at the House of Molyneux as an assistant designer from 1934 through 1938, and as a designer with Lucien Lelong in Paris in 1939 and also from 1941 through 1945. During his time at Lelong's he worked to the artistic influence of a variety of acclaimed designers and alongside designer, Christian Dior.
In October 12, 1945, Balmain founded Maison Balmain as a couture house, with a lucrative sideline in fragrances. In that year he showed long, bellshaped skirts with small waists; a line that became popular in 1947 as part of Dior's New Look. He bought a building on Rue de Francois I, which he expanded and redecorated and became his permanent place of business. He sold his first dress to Princess Ghislaine de Polignac, and his clientele included the Duchess of Kent, the Duchess of Windsor, The Countess Charles Emmanuel de la Rochefoucauld, and the wealthiest members of the bourgeoisie, as well as various artists and divas.
In 1951, Balmain opened branches in the United States selling ready-to-wear clothes. His collections were shown under the brand name of Jolie Madame. His success in the United States has been attributed to the fact that he was able to translate French fashion into clothes for the American woman's larger frame, without compromising style. He had the ability of making simple, tailored suits as well as grand evening gowns, in the same slender supple and elegant lines. In 1955, he receives the Neiman Marcus Award.
Balmain has been described as one of the main practitioners of the “New Look” generation, along with Christian Dior and Jacques Fath. During the 1950s and 1960s, Balmain’s clients included some of the world’s most elegant and best-dressed women, such as Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Queen Sirikit of Thailand. He is credited with popularizing the stole as an accessory for day and evening wear and created a fashion for sheath dresses beneath jackets. His coats were generously cut to give a full back and were sometimes half-belted. During the same time, his Cossack-like wraps and capes were trend-setters. He also dressed Katharine Hepburn in the film Les Millionaires, in which the actress plays the most elegant woman in the world. Balmain was also known as a designer for the international set.
In 1960 he encountered a series of difficulties and on the eve of the thirtieth anniversary of the House of Balmain, he was bankrupted. The IDI (The Institute of Industrial Development) and some private banks intervened, and the Maison was rescued and even re-launched and expanded under his successor, the Danish Erik Mortensen; but Balmain continued as the proprietor and chief designer of Maison Balmain until his death on June 29, 1982.
In 2005, the company hired Christopher Decarnin, formerly at Paco Rabanne's, with the mission of reviving the company. In 2006, he introduced a collection featuring beautifully draped and constructed pleated gowns with a contemporary twist and reminiscent of its founder's lines, which gave a new life to the House of Balmain.
