I just finished watching the entire series. I want to share my thoughts and feelings while they’re fresh , but I find myself so emotional that it’s hard to find words.

Watching six hours of anything is an immersive experience. But watching six hours of the retelling of the life and career of a person you’ve studied almost obsessively and quasi-deified for the last 24 years is…ineffable. His work has always spoken to me; in a still small voice that’s has always been stereophonic and resounding, as profoundly today as it was at the age of 16 . Having poured over his designs- in print and in person- and visited the streets he walked in Getaria, San Sebastián, and Paris, I’ve often imagined what his life was like. So actually seeing it played out, with my eyes and ears, beyond just my imagination…well, I can only describe it as a spiritual and sensory experience as much as my visits to Getaria have been.

I’ve seen many non-documentary television series and films depicting the life and times of notable people that we are all familiar with to varying degrees. No matter how true to the facts they try to be, there’s always fictionalization applied and creative license taken ; it has to be because you cannot fully and accurately recreate the past. There are questions that cannot be answered, perspectives that cannot be known or shared. How directors and writers chose to deal with these gaps in knowledge & history is what differentiates a good production from a brilliant one, and banal retelling of facts from a masterful work of art. This was without a shadow of a doubt the latter on both counts. Instead of trying to push a narrative and answer all the questions and close all the gaps and tell a fairytale , the directors and writers Aitor Arregi , Lourdes Iglesias, Jon Garaño, and Jose Mari Goenaga simply presented a living flesh & blood complicated man with all the creativity, ego, pathos, humility , bravado, insecurities, contradictions, consistencies, frailties , fears, passions , integrity, and nuanced humanity we all know and feel and live.

Alberto San Juan’s portrayal of Cristobal Balenciaga was utterly compelling, captivating, and charming. His Cristobal was as earnestly revealing yet enigmatic as every personal account of the man has attested. It was effortless to forget he was playing Cristobal and just believe he WAS Cristobal. The entire cast was excellent but the two standouts for me beyond Alberto were Adrien Dewitte as Hubert de Givenchy -legendary couturier in his own right who was also close friend and protégé of Cristobal Balenciaga — and. Adam Quintero as Ramon Esparza, Balenciaga’s personal assistant and right hand from about 1948 to Balenciaga’s death in 1972. Handsome Dewitte’s striking resemblance to a young Hubert only underscores the chemistry both the actors and the characters have on screen that flows naturally from ambiguously flirtatious mutual admiration when they met to a rock-solid, half-paternal/half-fraternal friendship (a trajectory I think is familiar to and common among queer men who share career fields and sensibilities with one another) . Quintero’s superb performance as the trusted loyal confidante that’s constantly in the grips of awe and devotion but wants and demands more is so visceral yet restrained in a way that makes perfect sense for the relationship between Ramon and Cristobal given the time and their proud & conservative basque roots.

The production itself was flawless. I mean it is Disney after all. They’re known for their top quality output and that’s what they gave. With all the documentation of Balenciaga’s businesses in Paris (as well as the Eisa couture locations in San Sebastián, Madrid, and Barcelona), his homes, and of course his designs, there was no reason not to get it right (though we’ve all seen productions that get it wrong anyway) and they did not disappoint. What must be pointed out though is while the series creators had cooperation and access to the Balenciaga archives and other source materials, they didn’t spare any expense in recreating them. Especially the costumes. I think the costumes most of all we’re going to be scrutinized — and given that they had to and DID accurately recreate many of Cristobal Balenciaga’s most detailed and innovative designs — much applause is due to Bina Daigeler , Pepo Ruiz Dorado , and my friend Javier Martin Galan for their excellent work in both the recreations and the other original costumes worn by the cast.

Lastly, I know it may seem that given my aforementioned love for Cristobal Balenciaga that any depiction of his story would warrant some degree of praise from me. Actually, the contrary is true. I was fully prepared to either be disappointed or bored or furious or all three. I’d rather no depiction at all than a bad one riddled with inaccuracies, disjointed writing, sloppy production, and lackluster performances. Ryan Murphy’s Halston and (even moreso) “Capotes Swans” leap immediately to mind as guilty of all charges but the reliable performances of the great actors cast in those productions. I think that many producers think when it comes to fashion-related stories that as long as you give the audience recognizable names and plenty of pretty things to look at, we will be satisfied, but that is not the case. The fashion loving audience is very attuned and critical to aesthetic and artistic perfection and imperfections. They must still make us believe what we’re watching and care about the characters and the stories beyond the familiarity we may have with the subject matter. If that can’t be achieved, then I’d rather just have a documentary and let my imagination do the rest. All that to say, the undertaking of a series with such a legendary and somewhat mysterious and mythical figure as Cristobal Balenciaga was a gargantuan responsibility and unenviable task . So I’m truly and deeply pleased that the entire team behind the series succeeded in creating a perfect work of storytelling and filmmaking worthy of Cristobal Balenciaga himself. Bravo!