The TV show on Disney+ revolves around the exclusive interview Cristóbal Balenciaga gave to Prudence Glynn in 1971: let’s discover it.
For many, watching Cristóbal Balenciaga on Disney+ has represented a journey into an unexplored world. The TV series released in 2024 has unveiled the life and career of one of the most mysterious personalities in the fashion world of the last century. The Spanish fashion designer has spent his whole life away from the spotlight: the press couldn’t have pictures of him, let alone interviews; in a moment of his life, he even started a war against the habit of publishing the sketches of his dresses to prevent copies. Nobody was allowed to discover more about him.
That’s why the interview he gave to Prudence Glynn in 1971 was so exceptional. The TV show on Disney+ revolves around the revelations Balenciaga shared with the prestigious fashion reporter during the three days she spent at his residence. He gave only two interviews in his whole life, and obviously, his long conversation with the Times reporter at the end of his life is the best way to enter his character.
Prudence Glynn was the first fashion editor of the British newspaper The Times. She was considered one of the most prominent authorities in 1900s fashion journalism: she started writing for The Times in the 60s, covering the main events of European haute couture. The story of how she managed to convince Cristóbal Balenciaga to allow the interview is fascinating, and you can watch it in the first episode of the TV show on Disney+: she attended Coco Chanel’s funeral, in a Balenciaga dress that didn’t fail to catch his attention. She talked to him that day, insisting on a final interview that would let the whole world breach his wall of secrecy. Ultimately, he agreed and invited Prudence Glynn to spend three days at his house.
The result was a one-page interview published on The Times in August 1971. Unfortunately, the interview is not available on the Internet today. Nevertheless, we can discover an exciting detail through the content shared by Ana Balda Arana, a Fashion researcher who worked in the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum for two years: as she posted in this tweet in 2020, Prudence Glynn titled the interview “Balenciaga and la vie d’un chien,” borrowing a French expression the Spanish designer used in their conversation, about the fact that a fashion artist has a “dog’s life.” We can hear Balenciaga talking about it in the last episode of the TV show on Disney Plus. Below, you can see a blurred image of the 1971 interview on The Times.
Cristóbal Balenciaga had a peculiar temper. He was highly secretive; he didn’t like talking with others and considered the press more as an enemy. He didn’t want pictures of himself: the one he allowed for the release of his perfume “Le Dix” has to be considered a rare exception.
The TV series released in 2024 on Disney+ has allowed us to discover more about a personality that has made the history of fashion: as you see in the show, Balenciaga felt he exposed himself even too much during those three days. Who knows, would he have liked the series about himself if he was alive?
