Balenciaga

English

Etymology

From Basque, from Balencia (“Valencia”) +‎ -aga (“place of”). Compare Basque Zubiaga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˌlɛnsiˈɑːɡə/

Proper noun

Balenciaga

1. A surname from Basque, denoting origin or inhabitation in the Valencia region of Spain.
   • 2007 June 28, Guy Trebay, “Looking Like a Billion Bucks”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     On Saturday night a dinner was held for Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga beneath Tiepolo’s hallucinatory and superpopulated ceiling at the Palazzo Clerici.

2. A luxury fashion house founded in 1919 by Cristóbal Balenciaga, based in Spain and France.
   • 1960, Bettina Ballard, In My Fashion:

     Balenciaga's couture openings are not gala affairs packed with friends, but tense performances where everyone concentrates madly and in silence to take in the fast-paced show.

Noun

Balenciaga (plural Balenciagas)

1. A product of the Balenciaga brand, especially shoes or a handbag.
   • 2013 February 5, Mary Blume, The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World, Macmillan, →ISBN:

     Mona Bismarck took eighty-eight numbers in 1963, fairly typical except for the year when many of her clothes were in a train wreck and she ordered one hundred fifty Balenciagas all at once.

   • 2015 July 10, Halsey, Larzz Principato, Kalkutta, James Mtume (lyrics and music), “New Americana”, in Badlands, performed by Halsey:

     Cigarettes and tiny liquor bottles / Just what you’d expect inside her new Balenciaga

   • 2018, Cardi B et al. (lyrics and music), “I Like It”, in Invasion of Privacy, performed by Cardi B (with J Balvin and Bad Bunny):

     I like those Balenciagas (Those) / The ones that look like socks