A Newly Discovered Interview with Cristóbal Balenciaga (¡Hola!, 1954): Journalistic, Documentary, and Strategic Dimensions

This article presents and analyses an interview with Cristóbal Balenciaga published in ¡Hola! in 1954, previously absent from the academic corpus on the Spanish couturier. The interview constitutes a significant discovery that substantially expands the documentation available on the designer, who has traditionally been described as reluctant to engage with the media. The study situates the interview within a dual context: first, the business and geopolitical environment of postwar haute couture, shaped by tensions between Paris, Spain, and the American market; and second, the editorial context of ¡Hola! during the 1950s, marked by its rapid expansion and transnational circulation. Through a qualitative analysis combining historically grounded approaches based on primary sources, studies on the journalistic interview genre, and close textual reading, the article examines the narrative strategies employed by journalist José A. Irurozqui, the strategic choice of publication, and the content of Balenciaga’s statements. The findings demonstrate that the prominence given to the designer’s first-person voice, the journalist’s narrative framing, and ¡Hola!’s editorial positioning all contributed to consolidating a public image of the couturier and of his brands in Paris and Spain.