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Why is wearing a Balenciaga a status symbol?

by Jericho Zafra

MORE than the prestige, wearing a Balenciaga is like dressing up like a star. From head to toe, Balenciaga transforms everyone who wears his masterpiece into an instant fashion plate.

As put together by Republic Asia from various sources, Cristóbal Balenciaga is a very expensive fashion brand, possibly as expensive as a piece of diamond.

According to reports,  Cristóbal Balenciaga opened in 1919 the doors of his first Balenciaga boutique  in San Sebastián, Spain. He later expanded his company with outlets in Madrid and Barcelona.

The French press touted Balenciaga,  according to the Met Museum archive, as a powerhouse transforming the fashion industry in 1939. Buyers and customers were competing with one another to purchase items from his collection.

The Spanish royal family and the elite wore his creations. But Balenciaga had to relocate to Paris after the Spanish Civil War compelled him to shut down his retail establishments.

Customers were said to be willing to take the risk of traveling to Europe during World War II to purchase Balenciaga’s designs, particularly his famous square coat, in which the sleeve was cut in one piece with the yoke, and anything shown in his signature color combination of black and brown or black lace over bright pink.

Since then, the luxury brand has kept getting the limelight.

The Balenciaga brand is emblematic of a revolution that brings into spotlight the basic foundation of conventional fashion since it redefines what it means to be beautiful within the huge fashion world.

The international French-based luxury business Kering purchased Balenciaga in 2001. Kering is also the owner of Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and Alexander McQueen, among many other luxury fashion houses. 

In 2018, Balenciaga was ranked as the company’s brand with the fastest growth.

In a report from the Financial Times in 2018, Balenciaga’s CEO Cedric Charbit  said “millennials represent 60 percent of what we sell. Together with men, these are growing faster than any other (category).” 

In 2021, the luxury brand recorded a total of 17.645 billion euros in sales, according to US Fashion Network.

Hottest brand

According to The Lyst Index, Balenciaga has again taken the top spot on the list of the world’s hottest brands for the first quarter of 2022.

However, for the second quarter, Lyst Index reported that Balenciaga is only the second hottest brand for 2022, next to Gucci.

Fashion technology business and premium shopping app Lyst issues the Lyst Index. It ranks fashion’s hottest brands and products quarterly based on buyer behavior. Sales, product views, social media activity, mentions, and engagement were also the key performance indicators they considered in publishing their quarterly index.

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