Style, style, style. If there is a television series with which to sell an elegance that transcends the screen, this is Cristóbal Balenciaga, the biopic with which Alberto San Juan must convey the drama, talent and mystery around the designer who put Spain on the map of international fashion. And, for now, the trailer published by Disney conveys precisely this.
“The body of a woman, a piece of fabric and the stitches together to hold it all together,” says the designer turned fictional character. The idea is to start with the presentation of his first haute couture collection in Paris in 1937 after his successful career in his workshops in Madrid and San Sebastián as a reference for the Spanish elite and aristocracy.
But it faces a problem: setting trends does not work the same in Spain as it does in Paris, where Chanel, Dior and Givenchy are the benchmark of haute couture. How can you focus your skill with the needle and thimble to succeed beyond the Iberian Peninsula?
The cast headed by Alberto San Juan, winner of the Goya for best actor for Under the Stars and best supporting actor for Sentimental, is completed by Belén Cuesta as Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Josean Bengoetxea as the businessman Nicolás Bizkarrondo, and Cecilia Solaguren as Virgilia Mendizabal. and Adam Quintero as Ramón Esparza.
Thomas Coumans is Wladzio D'Attainville, who was Balenciaga's partner; Gemma Whelan, The Times journalist Prudence Glynn; Anouk Grinberg, Coco Chanel, Gabrielle Lazure as Carmel Snow, the fashion director of Harper's Bazaar; Patrice Thibaud as Christian Dior; Nine d'Urso as model Colette; and finally Anna-Victoire Olivier as Audrey Hepburn.
Who is behind the cameras of Cristóbal Balenciaga? The creators are Lourdes Iglesias, Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga; the winner of eleven Goya awards, Alberto Iglesias, is in charge of the music; Javier Agirre Erauso, winner of the Goya for Handia, is the director of photography; Mikel Serrano, with Goyas for Handia and Akelarre, is the art director; Karmele Soler, with another Goya for The Skin I Live In, is responsible for the makeup; and, to recreate the style of the time and evoke the luxury of Balenciaga, there is Bina Daigeler, Oscar-nominated for Mulán, responsible for the costumes with the costume designer Pepo Ruiz Dorado.
And when can it be seen? Starting January 19 at Disney.
