Balenciaga is a luxury fashion house founded in 1917 by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga in San Sebastian, Spain and currently based in Paris. Balenciaga had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as “the master of us all” by Christian Dior.[2] His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet “modernistic” silhouettes became the trademarks of the house.[3] Balenciaga closed in 1972 and was reopened under new ownership in 1986. The brand is now owned by the French multinational holding company Kering.