Balenciaga! Such a prominent name in the world of fashion.

Love or hate them, but Balenciaga's bizarre products have made them the talk of the town.

Here are 25 interesting things to know about Balenciaga.

1.
Balenciaga was founded in 1919 by Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga, opening its first store in San Sebastián, Spain.

2.
Cristóbal Balenciaga learned his craft from his mother at the tender age of 11 years. At 12 he trained to learn his craft as a couturier, tailor and pattern cutter. Before he opened his first boutique he was already rich in 20 years of experience.

3.
"The master of us all," is how Christian Dior once described Cristóbal Balenciaga, the rare couturier who could construct a garment from start to finish.

4.
Unlike most fellow designers, Cristóbal Balenciaga always tried to avoid publicity – he never came out to take a bow at the end of his shows and the only full interview he ever granted was in 1971, to Prudence Glyn of The Times.

5.
Balenciaga had to shut down operations in Spain with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.
He moved to Paris, where he got his first fashion show, and things really started to kick off.

6.
Balenciaga released their first perfume, Le Dix, in 1947.
It was created by French perfumer Francis Fabron as a classic perfume for the evening.

7.
If Christian Dior's 1947 New Look was all about small, nipped-in waists, mid-calf skirts and prominent hips, Balenciaga went the opposite direction with his broad shoulders and box shapes. Achieving a sublime softness of form by adding volume around the waist and going asymmetrical on the length, he created staple pieces like the egg coat, the semi-fitted suit and the peacock tail dress.

8.
In 1957, to prevent copycats from stealing his designs, Cristóbal began unveiling collections to the fashion press a day before he shipped them to stores instead of the norm, which was four weeks prior.
Balenciaga kept this up for ten years.

9.
A fan of soft lines and delicate femininity, Balenciaga remodeled women's figure with his baby doll dress. From Twiggy's wiggly, sleeveless version to Courtney Love's grunge interpretation, the puffy, curve-free, trapeze frock has been reinvented countless times since its creation in 1958.

10.
As the name suggests, Balenciaga's Triple S sneakers are inspired by three types of soles: running, basketball, and track shoes.

11.
British model Kate Moss played a crucial role in the Balenciaga City bag's success.
While the bosses at Balenciaga almost canned the handbag due to its logo-less, slouchy design, that ended up being one of its biggest draws!

12.
Balenciaga was acquired in 2001 by Kering, a French multinational corporation that owns numerous luxury companies, like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Yves Saint Laurent.

13.
Nicolas Ghesquière, the brand's creative director from 1997 to 2012, was sued for $10 million by Balenciaga's parent company, Kering, in 2013.
Kering claimed her harsh comments about Balenciaga violated their separation agreement.

14.
In June 2011, the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum was built in Getaria, Spain, becoming the first museum dedicated to a designer.
Its permanent collection includes notable works such as the ivory wedding dress he designed for Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

15.
In 2016, Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalaia, created the Speed Trainer, the fashion house's first sock-like sneaker.

16.
Balenciaga partnered with Crocs in 2017 to release colorful platform clogs.
2021 saw the release of the Balenciaga Crocs 2.0 collection, featuring a pair of crocs with stiletto heels, among other monstrosities.

Also read: 22 Crazy Facts About Crocs

17.
For its Fall 2018 collection, Balenciaga created a coat made from seven layers of jackets. By this point, it should be no surprise that the multi-layered jacket retailed for an outright silly $9,000!

18.
In 2022, Balenciaga and Lay's collaborated to create the L.O.L. clutch. This $1,500 leather bag looks almost exactly like a packet of Lay's chips, with Balenciaga's logo replacing the text for the chip's flavor.

19.
Balenciaga worked with the producers of The Simpsons in 2021 to create The Simpsons | Balenciaga, an animated short film. The plot revolves around Marge returning a Balenciaga dress with a note saying how the dress briefly made her feel special.

20.
Gucci and Balenciaga embarked on one of the biggest collaborations in the high-fashion world with their Hacker Project, which debuted during the spring 2022 season.

21.
Balenciaga released the "Trash Pouch" in 2022, a $1,790 calfskin handbag that tried its best to look like an ordinary trash bag.

22.
Balenciaga sold a limited run of 100 extremely worn-out pairs of their "Paris Sneaker" in 2022.
The pre-stressed sneakers were so worn out they could barely be worn.

23.
Despite being a century-old brand, Balenciaga only hired its first brand ambassadors in 2023!
They were French actress Isabelle Huppert and Thai actor PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn.

24.
PETA awarded Balenciaga the Best Luxury Product award in 2023 for a vegan coat that is made from Lunaform, a special type of "leather" made completely from plants.

25.
Balenciaga had the nerve to actually sell branded rolls of clear tape as bracelets in 2024 for $4,400.

Sources
Wikipedia - Balenciaga / Highsnobiety / Harper's Bazaar - Balenciaga City Bag / Fragrantica / Google Arts and Culture / Venture Capital Post / Business Insider / Wikipedia - Kering / Turespaña / New York Post / Global Cosmetic Industry / Yahoo / Fashion Beans / Sotheby's / Good Morning America / The Fashion Law / Harper's Bazaar - Balenciaga Layered Jacket / Wikipedia - The Simpsons Balenciaga / The fact Site