On October 19, 2023, Balenciaga launched an in-depth look at the heritage of 10 - 12 Avenue George V, the House’s Paris birthplace. A short documentary details the history behind and continuing legacy of the iconic addresses with a 3D-scanned tour of their renovated interiors. These conjoined spaces were the only place Cristóbal Balenciaga created and showed his Paris collections, and where he lived and worked until the Couture House’s closure in 1968.
A renovation project was initiated to restore these rooms with respect to that era of austerity and elegance, as well as to accommodate a turning point in the history of the House by implementing modern technology and unprecedented access to the Balenciaga Couture experience. A newly installed official plaque on the outside of the building commemorates the House’s expansion and return to its original Paris headquarters.
The documentary shows Balenciaga Couture’s grand staircase, its sales office, the “cathedral-like” salons where models walked in silence, the preparation cabins, and the couturier’s office, all integral parts in the creation of collections then and now. “What is a legacy?” asks the narrator. “It’s a vision, of course, and it’s also a place.”