Alberto Rey

Updated Sunday, January 28, 2024-21:43

Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregui and José Mari Goenaga, co-creators of Cristóbal Balenciaga, admit that before entering the world of the legendary

couturier

they hardly knew anything about fashion. But the idea of ​​Lourdes Iglesias, the fourth creator of the series, was too sweet to let slip away. Looking at

Cristóbal Balenciaga

, anyone would think that those responsible for

Loreak, Handia

or

The Infinite Trench

did not know about fabrics and sewing. And fashionable.

Cristóbal Balenciaga

, the series, seems expertly made.

It tells the story of man but also underpins the foundations

that make it worth telling. Balenciaga's perfectionism cannot be shown if we are not explained what

Monsieur

Balenciaga's obsession with detail consisted of. The series does it. The Basque cannot be contextualized in the Paris of the Nazi occupation if we do not believe that his series takes place in Paris. We believe it.

Supported by the costume work of Bina Daigeler and Pepo Ruiz Dorado, the Moriartis (Garaño, Arregui and Goenaga operate under that name) have put together a series that would not be out of place in the

catalog of period blockbusters on BBC or HBO

. His, available on Disney+, does not skimp on the media. It is a series in which the luxurious and the exquisite (and the Parisian) occupy important places.

Cristóbal Balenciaga

has enjoyed these means and the result, like when Balenciaga had the fabrics and the time he requested, is exquisite.

It is not difficult to see

Alberto San Juan

become the king of haute couture. The subtlety of his characterization is an example of what a good actor San Juan is, who in the series faces a complex challenge: we know both a lot and very little about Cristóbal Balenciaga. We also know that he would have preferred us to barely know anything. This idea, that of the self-centered hermit, also appears in the series.

But, as was the case in

Tár

(a film whose costumes are, by the way, also by Bina Daigeler),

Cristóbal Balenciaga

never forgets that Guetaria's talent was real and unsurpassed. You have to be very crude, being familiar with the elements that make up a garment, not to appreciate the tricks that Balenciaga achieved with, as they say in the series, "just the right stitches to hold everything together." As in their previous works, the Moriartis build

Cristóbal Balenciaga

with just the right stitches. The secret is that their threads (wefts), their fabrics (production) and their seamstresses (casting) are of the highest quality.

When another series with which it shares many things is released in a few weeks, we will be able to better appreciate the difference between the acceptable and the extraordinary. Like when Cristóbal Balenciaga compared his dresses with North American imitations of him. That is also seen in the series. And it is also understood.

It makes you want to reach out and touch.

And it's angry not to be able to do it. And not being able to ask the retired Balenciaga any more questions about when he was the king of Paris. A luxury series.