“Following this week’s worldwide launch of HTC’s most beautifully designed phone yet, the HTC One (m8), we continue our evolution of style series looking at the History of Cristóbal Balenciaga.” Cristóbal Balenciaga, founder of fashion house Balenciaga, wanted women of strong character to wear his designs. A renowned designer, Christian Dior once said of Balenciaga, “Haute couture is like an orchestra, whose conductor is Balenciaga,” he once said. “We other couturiers are the musicians and we follow the directions he gives.” Cristóbal Balenciaga opened his first boutique in San Sebastián, Spain in 1918, which expanded to include branches in Madrid and Barcelona. When the Spanish Civil War forced the boutiques to close, he moved to Paris. Here, his success was almost immediate with customers travelling across Europe risking their safety, during a wartime period, to see his designs. However, it was not until after the war that his inventiveness as a designer was fully realised. His attention to the female waist and the different looks he used to complement it attracted huge attention and is “considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women.” After a hugely successful career, Cristóbal Balenciaga closed his fashion house in 1968 and died in 1972. “This article was brought to you in association with HTC, designers of the HTC One m8, with beautiful design inside and outside, the HTC One m8 is an evolution of  the HTC One, the world’s most awarded phone in 2013”