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Cristóbal Balenciaga review – this classy drama is utterly gorgeous

Sensuous lighting and smart camerawork showcase beautiful period details and astonishing couture in this biography of the fashion great. It’s a fitting tribute to a wonderful craftsman

As the programme shows, Balenciaga was always an artist at the forefront of what design could be but, from Simpsons-based campaigns, bondage teddy bears, £1,350 leather trash bags and towels worn as skirts it does seem that the subject of this series might be horrified by what his name has come to represent. The series, with the rough framework that Balenciaga is recounting the events to the journalist Prudence Glynn (Gemma Whelan) in a rare interview, covers the years he spent in Paris, several of which were under Nazi occupation. Befitting its subject the series is also utterly gorgeous, lit with sensuous golden glows and shallow focus that picks out the period details in the architecture, clothes and passive-aggressive dynamics between Balenciaga’s many rivals.

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