5 of Balenciaga’s Most Iconic Runway Shows of All Time

One of the oldest fashion houses operating today, Cristóbal Balenciaga founded his eponymous label in 1917. For two decades, he worked out of a small atelier in a coastal Spanish town before moving to France in 1937, where he presented couture collections to rave reviews before closing up shop in 1968. Since the house’s relaunch in the late 1980s, Balenciaga has been a mainstay of the luxury fashion world, defined by Cristóbal’s unparalleled mastery of form and silhouette. 

Following the brand’s ’80s return, every designer to helm the label has endeavored to preserve and continue Cristóbal’s legacy, from Josephus Thimister’s revival period to Nicholas Ghesquière’s legendary run to Alexander Wang’s brief tenure during the early 2010s. Fast forward to 2015, when Vetements founder and designer Demna Gvasalia joined the brand as creative director, revitalizing the French fashion house in a way that captured new audiences while remaining true to the label’s founding principles. 

And though Gvasalia mastered the art of sparking conversation during the social media era, he was far from the first to do it. Cristóbal himself was known for stirring up controversy with form-defying collections—a trend that Gvasalia continues across designs, campaigns and so much more. 

Below, we revisit five of Balenciaga’s most iconic runway shows throughout the decades, reflecting on how they both built upon and diverted from Cristóbal’s legacy.