Name: Pierre Alexandre Claudis Balmain
Born: May 18, 1914 in Saint Jean de Maurienne,  Savone, France
*Family owned a wholesale drapery business ran but his mother and aunts after his father passed away when he was 7 years old
*Studied Architecture at Ecole des Baux Arts in Paris
-In 1933 he did free lance work drawing for French designer, Robert Piguet
*In 1934-1939 left school to work for designer, Edward  Molyneux creating dresses
*The first of twenty fragrances was created in 1945 called “Elysées”
*Also in 1945, opened his own fashion house showcasing long bell shaped skirts with a small waist,  known as the “A-line” skirt
* In 1951 began selling ready to wear clothes in the US in many different branches
* Began being known for translating French fashion into clothes for American women who were larger in size without compromising style
*Died in Paris, France on June 29, 1982 of liver cancer
*In October of 2011 Pierre Balmain was introduced as a new affordable line ranging from $180-$1200
*Today,  Balmain’s Creative Director is Olivier Rousteing and he has been since April 2011 when he was only 25 years old
Did You Know?
*Karl Lagerfeld worked under the direction of Balmain from 1955-1958
*1980 won the “Outstanding Custom Designer” Award
*Known as the “King of French Fashion”
*Oscar de la Renta became Creative Director and revived the company in the early 1990’s when it was under performing
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