In his memoirs, Pierre Balmain recalls being at a dinner with his friend, the designer Cristobal Balenciaga, at the moment when the Parisians heard that their city had been finally liberated. He writes about the incredible emotions that they all felt, as they heard the city below them erupt into the Marseillaise, as General Leclerc’s free-French forces finally began their entry into the city.

When he heard that the owners were planning to convert all of the building’s apartments into commercial leases, Pierre Balmain made a life-changing decision right then and there: that space on 44 François Premier was destined to become the first atelier and showroom of his new, eponymous fashion house— the house of Balmain. And that now-iconic address has remained the house’s Parisian flagship location for over 75-years.