Balenciaga for the Queen Fabiola of Belgium. If nowadays combining the name of an internationally recognized fashion house with that of a royal's wedding dress has become customary, in 1960 such a combination was definitely news.
The Disney+ TV series Cristobal Balenciaga dedicates an entire episode to the bond between the couturier and the Spanish aristocrat, going rather faithfully into the details of the creation of the dress. However, to understand the significance of the event, another fact must be underlined: that between Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón And Baldwin of Belgium it was the first marriage of a king broadcast live on TV: it was December 15, 1960.
Coco Chanel, Chistian Dior and Balenciaga will no longer have secrets: all the fashion to see on TV
On television platforms, serials discover the world of fashion by drawing above all on the stories of the origins of the great fashion houses. Six titles to keep in mind including works based on reality, documentaries and original fiction. All you have to do is make yourself comfortable
Baldovino and Fabiola, story of a love
Baldwin became King of the Belgians at age 20 in 1951 after his father Leopold III abdicated due to a series of political disputes in the country. A fervent Catholic, he remained celibate for a long time, so much so that it was rumored that he wanted to take vows. One of the most accredited versions reports that in his prayers he asked for a “saint” to be sent to him to guide him on his journey in search of the perfect wife.
Through the cardinal Léon-Joseph Suenenswho revealed certain confidential information in his memoirs, met the Irish nun Veronica O'Brien. The nun was sent to Spain (she had had visions to this effect) with the secret task of find the future queen of Belgium.
The name of was suggested to the mystic Fabiola de Mora and Aragón, a very Catholic Spanish aristocrat, with an excellent education and training as a nurse, who loved to write fairy tales for children in her free time. However, once the plan was revealed, Fabiola became scared. Reassured of her overall good intentions, she flew in May 1960 to Brussels to meet Baldwin.
The brand most desired by young people and Chiara Ferragni, colleagues Valentino and Armani, bullying and Giorgia Meloni: interview with an always “on” tailor, who continues undaunted to cultivate his idea of ​​beauty. Despite it all
After a series of confidential meetings, in July both Fabiola and the king went separately to Lourdes for a pilgrimage with code names to guarantee the anonymity of both: “Luigi” for him, “Avila” for her. On July 8 of that same year the two got engaged with the blessing of Our Lady of Lourdes.
In another version, Fabiola is depicted as the one who should have led the search for Baldwin's future consort in the land of Spain, in yet another her sister Pilar was instead the designated one. However, changing the order of the versions does not change the result: the two sincerely fell in love with each other and decided to get married. At that point, the future queen of the Belgians needed a dress to match.
Balenciaga's choice
Balenciaga at that time was certainly a prestigious fashion house that already had some celebrities among its clients real as the Princess Grace of Monaco as well as the Duchess of Windsor Wallis Simpson. Doña Fabiola, however, chose the couturier for other reasons, not for fashion.
The wedding dresses of the royals of that period were usually made by trusted tailors known more for their services to the crown than for the fashion shows in the atelier. To understand better, just name them all: Norman Hartnellthe one who made the wedding dresses for the wedding and for thecoronation for Queen Elizabethalso creating clothes for the Queen Mother and the Princess Margaret.
Norman Hartnell: Exactly 100 years ago the career of Queen Elizabeth's tailor began
He has long been the most important exponent of British fashion. He dressed actresses, aristocrats and four generations of women of the Royal Family. His most important clothes? The wedding one and the one for the coronation of Elizabeth II
Cristóbal Balenciaga, on the other hand, was an intimate of the noblewoman's family. At a very young age, in 1906 he made the first suit of his life for the Marquise of Casa Torres, Blanca Carrillo de Albornoz y ElioFabiola's grandmother.
The Marquise, struck by such talent, decided to make him her protégé, helping him at the beginning of his career. But not only. For that delicate task, someone needed discretion in DNA. And Balenciaga was certainly the ideal profile.
Interest in the wedding that would lead to a Spanish woman sitting on the throne of Belgium was sky-high. The newspapers did nothing but publish sketches based on the swirling rumors. The indiscretions actually served as an investigation into a possible approval. Fabiola rejected three drawings because she considered them too “regal”.
At that point Balenciaga held the point. «Please keep in mind that the dress will be worn by a queen». By marrying a king, Fabiola automatically became queen consort. That creation of hers tied her civilly and religiously to Baldwin but in one fell swoop it also made her sovereign.
A dress fit for a queen
The dress was designed in San Sebastian and made in a month and a half in the Madrid atelier. To have total confidentiality, the dress fittings on Fabiola of Belgium took place in Balenciaga's apartment.
24 meters of silk produced in Spain was used to obtain a fitted bodice and full gathered skirt sewn together, adorned with white mink at the waist. The same fur was found on the rounded neckline designed to give structure to the six-metre rectangular train, also finished with mink fur.
Even Coco Chanel recognized Cristóbal as the greatest authority of the time: «The only true couturier, after all, was him, the others are just fashion designers». Let's retrace the history of the Spanish designer who built the foundations of modern couture
The wedding tiara
In this picture a tiara to hold the veil in place. It was chosen tiara of the Nine Provinces, an heirloom reserved for queens that also had a special meaning. It was one of the gifts that Astrid of Sweden received for her wedding to Prince Leopold in 1926.
Baldwin's mother died prematurely in 1935 when the couple's firstborn was only 5 years old. Wearing that tiara therefore became a way to pay homage to a very important person for her husband, that mother-in-law she had never met whose death had marked the sad personality of the king cheered up by her love for Fabiola.
The dress made famous by live television
On December 15, 1960, what had long been rumored was seen by millions of spectators. The wedding which was held first in the throne room of the royal palace in Brussels for the civil ceremony and then in the cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula for the religious one it was the first by a sovereign broadcast on television (a few months earlier it had happened with the wedding of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones but they were not sovereign). Spain had recently joined the European Broadcasting Society: thanks to this entry even those who were not in Belgium had their place in the front row.
The Spaniards went crazy. Television sets sold like hotcakes and those who couldn't afford a television went to peek into other people's windows just to see one of their compatriots become queen. The dress was an immediate success.
The lines were rigorous in the Balenciaga way but that essentiality combined with the cloak-train gave the famous “royalty” to the creation. The dress entered history despite the subjects involved, a religious and reserved aristocrat who did not want to attract too much attention and a couturier who only gave two interviews in his life, who was portrayed very few times and of whom there are no testimonies record your own voice.
Where is the dress now
In 2003, the dress was donated by Queen Fabiola to Fundación Cristobal Balenciaga Fundazioa and is preserved in the museum dedicated to the brilliant stylist. No longer being a sovereign in office after Baldwin's departure in 1993, the royal must ask permission from King Alberther husband's brother who ascended the throne due to the lack of heirs.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
The dress was the subject of a restoration in 2002 by Lorenzo Caprileone of the most famous stylists in Spain, under the supervision of Carmen Carrichesone of the collaborators who participated in the 1960 venture. The Spanish furriers' association instead provided the skins free of charge to restore the dress to its former glory.
Instagram content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
The Cristòbal Balenciaga Museoa it's at Getaria, the couturier's hometown. The headquarters is in Aldamar Palacethe former summer residence of the marquises of Casa Torres. Queen Fabiola's wedding dress could not have found a better home. That villa in the village of Balenciaga where it all began.
Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
