Mr. Pierre Balmain was born in 1914 in a beautiful small town at the foot of the French Alps - Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, former The quiet town is now a must-pass route for the Tour de France
Pierre Balmain grew up in a family environment with a loving father and mother. The entire family was involved in the wholesale business of clothing fabrics, which ensured his success. No worries about food and clothing. However, when Pierre Balmain was seven years old, his father passed away. In order to support the whole family, his mother opened a fashion boutique and ran it in an orderly manner.
At first, the young Pierre Balmain was not interested in fashion design, but showed great enthusiasm for life and art, so he chose to study architecture at the prestigious French Academy of Fine Arts (Ecole des Beaux Arts). During that period, Pierre Balmain had new thinking about lines and structures. Compared with fixed buildings, he raised a question: Why can't fashion look like moving buildings? This is also the source of his famous saying: dressmaking is the architecture of movement.
As a result, the images of fashionable women entering and leaving the fashion boutique at home reappeared repeatedly in his mind, causing excitement. In 1934, Pierre Balmain joined the British designer Edward Molyneux's fashion house in Paris without looking back (At that time, Edward Molyneux's status in the fashion industry preceded Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli and created the simple fashion style of the 1930s). During the 6 years of working for Edward Molyneux, Pierre Balmain learned the essence of minimalism from Molyneux, which left an imprint on his future design style. In addition, he had a study experience in architecture, which made Pierre Balmain's design more comparable to Molyneux. , more powerful, experienced, and more contemporary. This is why later generations say that Edward Molyneux's greatest contribution to the fashion industry is: discovering and cultivating a generation of fashion design master Pierre Balmain.
Edward Molyneux preceded Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in the fashion industry, creating the simple fashion style of the 1930s.
In 1939, war spread, and Paris fell in 1940. Edward Molyneux Molyneux fled back to England early, and Pierre Balmain moved to Lucien Lelong, another famous fashion house in Paris at the time, where he became colleagues with Christian Dior and had a close relationship. Over time, the two became bored with the company's overly commercial design.
Lucien Lelong's perfume is all the rage. However, how could Lucien Lelong accommodate two epoch-making fashion design masters? Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior had planned to jointly create a fashion brand, but they could not agree on whether the brand name should be "Balmain Dior" or "Dior Balmain". They discussed whether to create brands named after themselves.
In 1945, Pierre Balmain, who had rich work experience, left first and founded his own brand of the same name in the same year. Christian Dior left Lucien Lelong later than Pierre Balmain and founded the Dior brand in 1947.
The Lucien Lelong fashion house collapsed after the two geniuses left, and the most experienced pattern makers and turners turned to Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior.
The funds for Pierre Balmain's creation of the brand came from his mother and two friends. On October 12, 1945, his first store opened at No. 45, Rue Francois-1er, Paris (it is still the main store now) Address), Pierre Balmain released 45 sets of ready-to-wear that day, which received unanimous praise from the media and customers, kicking off the craze for his works in the future.
By 1948, the Balmain brand had employed 352 employees (including 23 service supervisors, 12 chief salespersons, 8 secondary salespersons and 20 fitting models), and had a store in Paris. Nine design studios and three stores on Avenue George-V and Rue Francois-1er. At that time, only a few fashion houses such as Cristobal Balenciaga and Christian Dior had such a scale.
Pierre Balmain, Balenciaga, and Dior are known as the "Three Masters of European Haute Couture"
In 1946, with the funding of Paul Racine, Pierre Balmain entered the field of perfume. The first perfume was named "Elysee 6483", the name comes from Pierre Balmain's phone number. lysées 64/83, the first perfume designed by Pierre Balmain in 1946
In 1947, Pierre Balmain "Vent Vert" perfume came out, which was recognized as the most successful one from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. The popularity of perfume is only comparable to that of Chanel's No. 5 perfume in the 1920s. The "Miss Dior" perfume launched by Christian Dior in the same year did not achieve the same success as "Vent Vert". . The following year, Pierre Balmain launched "Verveine Gitronnelle" scented with lemon verbena. In 1953, "Jolie Madame" perfume was launched. By this time, Pierre Balmain perfume company had become a brand with many best-selling perfumes.
Pierre Balmain always found the best time to launch perfumes that best suited the market's tastes. This attracted the attention and favor of Revlon. In 1960, Pierre Balmain sold his perfume company for US$1 million. Sold to Revlon Corporation. In 1964, Revlon launched a perfume "Monsieur Balmain" named after Pierre Balmain. Its fragrance was exactly the same as "Verveine Gitronnelle" launched in 1948. This also attracted mixed reviews. Some people said it was A tribute to Mr. Pierre Balmain, some people say that this is obviously a fraud on the part of Revlon.
In 1966, the "Miss Balmain" perfume came out. This perfume was regarded as the younger version of the "Jolie Madame" perfume, attracting the love of more young ladies. In 1979, the "Ivoire" perfume came out. This perfume, which is translated as "ivory" in Chinese, is recognized by the world as one of the top ten perfumes in the world.
Looking back at this period of history, it is not difficult to find that perfume accounted for a large proportion of Pierre Balmain's business. This was actually a key factor in the success of fashion designers at that time.
Thankfully, after Pierre Balmain created a new era of elegance for women after World War II, and with the birth of outstanding descendants such as Hubert de Givenchy and Yves Sanit Laurent, the Paris fashion industry has experienced unprecedented prosperity.
The fashions designed by Pierre Balmain are not only sought after by Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Vivien Leigh, but also serve as a model for the royal family's private designs.
Therefore, there will be the later classic Pierre Balmain Singapore Airlines uniform.
The stewardess uniforms designed by Pierre Balmain for Singapore Airlines have become a beautiful sight across the world.
In addition, he also has extraordinary taste in home decoration. His former mansion on Elbe Island This is the best example. Pierre Balmain seemed to have never been troubled by funds from birth to the establishment of his career, so he was generous and extremely generous. In fact, according to records, he was still a pretty good amateur bel canto singer, and he sang Verdi's arias decently.
The innate elegance of the French, the calm lines of architectural aesthetics, and the simplicity essence obtained from Edward Molyneux constitute Balmain’s fashion design style. Therefore, it can combine simplicity, calmness and elegance. The only designer who can do it at the same time is Pierre Balmain.
After experiencing a gorgeous life, Pierre Balmain passed away on June 29, 1982. In 1990, it was finally bought by a joint banking group organized by Alain Chevalier, the former chairman of LVMH Group. In 1995, it was acquired by Alain Hivelin, the current owner of Pierre Balmain.
Pierre Balmain is the product of the fusion of modernity, intellectuality and elegance, that is, "Luxury Fashion". This series is about to reappear in 2010, and the familiar "Pierre Balmain" logo is also back in people's sight.
Balmain, Pierre (-Alexandre-Claudius)
(1914.5.18, Saint-Jean-de-Molienne, France ~ 1982.6.29, Paris)
French fashion designer. He gave up studying architecture and became a fashion designer in 1934. He worked with Christian Dior for a period of time. After World War II, the two became each other's strongest rivals in the fashion industry. Balmain's designs, especially evening gowns, are known for their high quality, especially their blend of feminine femininity and elegance; his clients include movie stars and royalty. He also opened stores in New York City and Caracas and began selling fragrances and accessories.
Mr. Pierre Balmain's autobiography "My Years and Seasons" was published in 1964. On June 29, 1982, Pierre Balmain passed away in Paris.
After the death of Pierre Balmain, the torch of the Balmain brand was passed to the famous designer Erik Mortensen and the young Herve Pierre.