The de Young truly never disappoints! My flamenco dancing friend and I went to the Balenciaga and Spain exhibit today and it was eye popping. Hamish Bowles of Vogue is the curator of this amazing exhibit and it features many pieces owned by him. The influence that flamenco dancers, Catholicism, matadors had on Balenciaga's work is obvious and I can imagine that high fashion Parisians between the late forties and late sixties found that look exotic and different.
Something that made a real connection for me was that many of the dresses were previously worn by San Francisco's very own society dames. Eleanor Christenson de Guigné was just one of these Bay Area women who had the fortune (literally) to own several Balenciaga gowns that she later donated to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Elise Stern Haas, of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and from the Levi Strauss family in San Francisco, also owned gowns that were donated to the Museums.
But, my favorite San Franciscan who owned a pretty hand-embroidered dress was Jean Magnin. I was unable to find proof of this but, I assume Jean is from the Magnin family that started I. Magnin and who built the home across the street from my old place on Page Street. Maybe she even grew up in one of the houses belonging to the family and went out to social events wearing the dress. I'd like to imagine!
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