The originator of Balenciaga was a man by the name of Cristobal Balenciaga, and he was born in Guetaria in the year of 1885. Mr. Balenciaga's father was a sailor as a occupation, and this job cost him his life at a young age. The mother of Cristobal was a dressmaker, and he often helped his mother and quickly picked up the skills of dressmaking -- and his skills were noticed at a very young age.

Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga got his start in fashion at the young age of thirteen, when he charmed the Marquise of Casa Torres with a compliment on her elegance. The Marquise encouraged Cristobal to design a dress for her, and the rest is history. Cristobal Balenciaga traveled to Paris and encouraged his already burgeoning talent by exposing himself to the then popular design houses of the early 20th century; Doucet, Worth and Drecoll.
When Balenciaga returned to Spain in 1915 at age 16, he opened the first design house in San Sebastian under his own name. Balenciaga couture was born. Some of Balenciaga's most dedicated supporters were the best-dressed women in the world. The Duchess of Windsor, Princess Grace of Monaco, the Queen of Belgium, the Queen of Spain, all regularly wore Balenciaga's creations.

Balenciaga always seems to be a few steps ahead of the other fashion designers, it came out with the designs ahead of the time, with sleeveless in the 60's before many other designs dared. In the year 1945 as soon as the war ended, Balenciaga changed his design a bit and hit up much more modern designs, with much brighter colors. In 1972 Cristobal Balenciaga died, at the age of 77. His family to this day continues to keep the company going, keeping true to their roots of high end quality dresses, and also leathergoods such as handbags and purses.