PIERRE BALMAIN, French fashion designer died (b. 1914); A designer known for sophistication and elegance, Balmain said that “dressmaking is the architecture of movement.”

He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design for Happy New Year (1980). Additional Broadway credits include costumes for Katharine Hepburn in The Millionairess (1952) and Josephine Baker for her eponymous 1964 revue. He also was a costume designer for sixteen films, including the Brigitte Bardot vehicle And God Created Woman, and designed on-screen wardrobes for the actresses Vivien Leigh and Mae West.

Balmain’s 1964 autobiography was titled My Years and Seasons. His companion was the Danish designer Erik Mortensen, who worked as a designer at Balmain from 1948 until 1991.