Nympenburg x Balenciaga: Couture cast in porcelain
It's an extraordinary collaboration presented in the wake of the latest couture show. Balenciaga is setting up its own couture store on Avenue George V in Paris. With specially developed products sold exclusively at the historic location of Cristóbal Balenciaga's salon, Balenciaga is giving itself a new direction. Or perhaps that of the entire industry? After all, it has always been a problem to make couture accessible to those who don't have an unlimited fashion budget.
Among the first limited-edition pieces from the Balenciaga Objects line are handmade porcelain figurines that are modeled on the original looks of Balenciaga couture.
The figurines are the ones we have seen on the catwalk with models Aki Nummela and Minttu Vesala in their outfits from the 50th Couture collection. They were made purely by hand at Porzellanmanufaktur Nymphenburg near Munich. The manufactory, founded in 1747, is thus one of the few in the world where porcelain is still made purely by hand. This process includes meticulous hand-painting in a historic master workshop overlooking Nymphenburg Castle.
The Balenciaga Couture figurines replicate on a small scale the exact look dictated by a number card that each model holds in their miniaturized hands, with the same attention to detail as the artistic creations they represent.
The latest couture collection by Balenciaga
