1.6: A New French Style, Part 4: Horst, Gruau and Iconic Balmain Images

<p>We start this episode with an examination of an iconic 20th-Century photograph: the black-and-white image of Gertrude Stein, seated in Pierre Balmain’s showroom, which was captured by the fashion photographer Horst for Vogue in 1946.</p><p>Maira Kalman, the celebrated author, illustrator and designer explains why she chose to recently paint her own version of this legendary image for her recent edition of “The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas.” Susanna Brown, who has curated some of &nbsp;the most impressive fashion photography exhibits at London’s V&amp;A museum also joins the podcast to discuss that image, as well as some of the other photos that came out of that now-legendary Horst session for Vogue. Few people know more about Horst than Brown, who edited the V&amp;A’s beautiful book on Horst and curated the museum’s 2014 show "Horst: Photographer of Style" —an international touring exhibit that showcased over 250 images drawn from Horst’s six-decade career. Brown expertly guides us through Horst’s fascinating life and career, explaining what makes the photographer’s work stand apart. She also discusses another of her favorite Horst-Balmain shootings, from among the many which took place over Horst’s long career at Vogue. Lynn Yaeger closes the episode’s discussion, with insights on why fashion magazines evolved from using mid-century illustrators,(like Gruau, who had a long history with Balmain) to today’s near-total dependence on photos.</p><p>This is the fourth of four l’Atelier Balmain episodes exploring the house’s first collection. Underlining how that first show introduced what Alice B Toklas defined as a “New French Style,” the four podcasts focus on Pierre Balmain's astounding success in overcoming the extremely difficult conditions, while also placing the spotlight on some of the many fashion and cultural icons who were part of the house’s earliest days and helped guarantee the success of the Paris fashion world’s first post-war star, Pierre Balmain.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The inherent joy of the legen