Entertainment

Almost 80,000 people have visited the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria since it was officially inaugurated on Tuesday 7th June, doubling the museum's initial forecasts for the last seven months of 2011.

The museum received 78.652 visitors during its first seven months. In terms of the geographic origin of museum-goers, visitors from the Basque Country made up 53.76% of the total number of visitors, whereas visitors from other Spanish communities made up 25.76% and foreign visitors made up 20.47% of the total.

In terms of monthly influx, August, with 19.775 visitors, and July, with 15.665, were the months with a bigger number of visitors.

The museum aims to promote, publicize and raise the profile of the Basque designer Cristobal Balenciaga and his creations. It is home to a selection of 90 pieces, including dresses and accessories which form part of its rotational exhibition. Its permanent exhibition includes 70 outfits and some 20 accessories taken from the museum's collection of more than 1,200 designs by the artist, which are displayed on a rotational basis for periods of no longer than a year, due to conservation requirements.

Among the creations displayed during the museum's first season are a coat and dress designed by Balenciaga and specially commissioned by Grace Kelly, and Queen Fabiola of Belgium's wedding dress. It was Fabiola's grandparents, the Marquises of Casa Torres, who introduced Balenciaga, the son of a fisherman and a seamstress, into the upper echelons of society.

The outfits in the museum are divided into themes, while light and colour are essential to the exhibition: From the immaculate white of the bridal dresses to the dark blues of evening wear.