Handwritten letter from Pierre Balmain

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Pierre Balmain, the creator of the famous French fashion house, praises a deceased designer friend.

Handwritten letter from Pierre Balmain to the widow of a designer friend we have yet to identify, perhaps Molyneux or Lucien Lelong. Three pages. In French. 16 cm x 20 cm. October 12, year unknown. Excellent condition. Single piece.

extracts

If you lose a lot we all lose in him an understanding friend and a man of good taste who throughout his life worked for elegance and quality (...). And suddenly all the memories of that trusting collaboration with this great textile master come back to my mind - these memories weave together my whole life as a couturier - from rue Royale to rue François 1er, passing through avenue Matignon (...) preserving this profession that he loved a true quality of creation to help our country to maintain its supremacy in the world (...). Pierre Balmain

Pierre Balmain (1914 - 1982) is the designer who created the famous French luxury brand of the same name. This seemed to be his fate, as Balmain's father owned a wholesale clothing store and his mother ran a fashion boutique with her sisters, where young Balmain came into contact with beautiful women and clothes.

After working for other designers, such as the young Christian Dior, he created his fashion house in 1945. The first collection was featured in Vogue magazine with the following comment by the journalist: "beautiful clothes that you really want to wear" . Balmain quickly spread its brand internationally and designed avant-garde clothes for stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot and princesses and queens around the world.

The fame and success of the Balmain brand has grown steadily over the decades, becoming a multinational company with over 600 employees. Interestingly, Balmain discovered another great talent, Karl Lagerfeld, whom he hired in 1954 after judging a competition in which the young Austrian designer won.

Letters written by great French stylists are rare, most being preserved by museums or by the haute couture houses themselves. This autograph document, in addition to being in excellent condition, long and entirely handwritten, with a large signature, is particularly interesting because Pierre Balmain speaks of fashion and his pride in France, through homage to another deceased designer.