Exhibition Title: The Subtleties of a Dialogue
Location: Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, Getaria, Spain
Dates: 23 May 2025 – 11 January 2026
Organizers: Balenciaga and the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum
Number of Pieces Exhibited: 31 garments by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Demna
Exhibition Themes: Six sections covering collars, sleeves, waists, backs, the color black, and the ongoing dialogue between the two designers
Wrap jacket in black bull leather. The distinctive
stand-up collar is crafted from a thick lining to add
structure to the enveloping ensemble
There is a particular kind of silence in Getaria. A quiet shaped by sea winds and stone streets. It’s a town that doesn’t need to shout to be heard. And it’s exactly the right place for The Subtleties of a Dialogue, an exhibition that speaks in whispers, in folds of fabric, in the curve of a sleeve or the depth of a hem.
Hosted by the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum and running from May 23, 2025, to January 11, 2026, this exhibition presents a kind of conversation. But instead of words, it uses garments. Thirty-one pieces from two designers who shaped and reshaped the same House, decades apart. Cristóbal Balenciaga, the master of restraint and architectural purity. And Demna, the Georgian designer who recently helmed the label with a sharp eye on the future and both feet planted in conceptual rigour.
This is the first time The Subtleties of a Dialogue is being shown in a museum setting. Originally created for European Heritage Days and first shown at the Kering headquarters in Paris, it now comes home to the birthplace of Balenciaga himself. It’s more than symbolic. In this museum dedicated to his legacy, the exhibition takes on a quieter intensity. A sense of return. A sense of continuity.
About Balenciaga
Balenciaga was founded in 1917 by Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and became a Paris-based couture house in 1937. Known for its innovation in shape, structure, and technique, the House influenced mid-20th-century fashion and introduced significant design concepts such as the tunic, the sack dress, and the cocoon coat.
Following Cristóbal’s retirement in 1968, the brand went through various creative phases. In 2015, Demna (born in Sukhumi, Georgia) was appointed Artistic Director. He led the House until recently, bringing a conceptual, street-informed approach to luxury fashion while referencing the brand’s historical codes.
Balenciaga today produces women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories, footwear, and haute couture. The House is part of the Kering Group and is active in areas including digital fashion, material innovation, and environmental responsibility. The couture collections were revived under Demna’s direction in 2021.
Evening cape in boiled black super gazar called “chou” worn over a long black silk cady shift dress
Fashion as Sculpture, as Statement, as Silence
The pieces are displayed as art objects. Not just arranged but staged. Set apart in glass vitrines or isolated against clean, minimal backgrounds. This isn’t fashion shown as trend or spectacle. It’s fashion treated as sculpture. The lighting is purposeful. The spacing deliberate. Viewers are invited to slow down and study. The exhibition is designed to reward attention.
Each garment becomes a study in technical mastery and aesthetic control. Whether you’re tracing the soft arc of a cocoon-shaped back or examining the crisp geometry of a structured collar, you begin to see the common language shared between Cristóbal and Demna. Even when their visual styles differ, their questions are similar. What makes a silhouette memorable? What happens when the body is abstracted by design? How can restraint be powerful?
This exhibition is built around six themes. Each one focuses on a signature design element that helps define the identity of the House. Together, they offer insight into how two very different designers worked with the same codes—and how those codes remain relevant in today’s fashion landscape.
A Museum Experience Rooted in Legacy and Looking Ahead
The exhibition doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s part of a larger narrative unfolding at the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum this year. Alongside The Subtleties of a Dialogue, the museum is also presenting Cristóbal Balenciaga: Technique, Material and Form, which draws from its permanent collection to explore the designer’s approach in more depth.
Later in the year, the museum will host Transmissions, a project that brings together students and faculty from top international fashion schools. The goal is to link past to present by inviting young designers to study the archive, experiment with its techniques, and respond to its legacy in new ways. Their work will be exhibited, completing a cycle of learning, reinterpretation, and renewal.
Sustainability and diversity are key themes throughout the year’s programming. But instead of being buzzwords, they’re woven into the approach. This is heritage not as something static, but as something to be worked with, challenged, and carried forward.
Cover :
Demna
Couture 50 – Look 53
Black silk faille opera cloak. The wide, gathered
lapel forms a collar that wraps around the face.
Topstitched flap pockets, double-slider zipper,
and snap buttons on the lapel