But it was not always so. For those of us with a few more years under our belts, though, Balenciaga is something else altogether - and it may seem strange to see this lauded couturier's name - this is the man Christian Dior called the "master of us all" - printed onto trainers and rain macs. Last year's retrospective at the V&A revealed just how influential the brand has been since its launch in Spain in 1919.
After moving to Paris when the Spanish Civil War forced closure, Cristobal Balenciaga's sculptural designs quickly came to the attention of the press and of the aristocracy, who promptly placed orders. In 1960, he designed a wedding gown for Queen Fabiola of Belgium; Jacqueline Kennedy's Balenciaga habit caused President John F. Kennedy to worry that the public would find her spending too lavish - leaving his father to pick up the bill. When the couturier shuttered his doors in 1968, loyal customer Mona von Bismarck refused to leave her room for three days.
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