For the past two weeks, Olivier Rousteing has been teasing images of the Balmain Pre-Fall collection on his personal Instagram feed. While this reduced the element of surprise for review purposes, it gave an early indication of the direction—first impression: architectural Asia fantasia—and also underscored Rousteing’s social network savvy. With over 5 million followers, his reach is more than twice as large as the population of central Paris.
From the showroom today, surrounded by all those fierce, three-dimensional minidresses and a new logo, he said this wasn’t so much a strategic decision as the excitement that comes from arriving at a point that bridged Balmain’s past with its future.
“I’ve been obsessed with making Balmain a strong French house. And when everyone is really struggling to understand where fashion is going, I wanted to look back and remember why fashion has been relevant,” he said. “And of course, it’s important to understand what people want today; people want to be real but they want to dream as well.”
The lookbook gives a sense of how he delivered on that duality: The color images draw attention to some of the crazy craftsmanship that transformed sleeves into spiky scaled dragons, juxtaposed plastic pieces with crochet, and showered surfaces with large crystal confetti. The embroidery patterns were packed with Japanese characters, nature elements, and mythological motifs derived from traditional tattoos, or else comparatively minimal as glistening geometries against backdrops of velvet or quilted leather. Exaggerated volumes that suggested rigid, deconstructed kimonos added to the drama. Rousteing demonstrated how the shapes did not actually restrict the arms—they simply provide a high-impact photo op. He did not demonstrate how a dress exposing half the torso might be worn; no doubt some exhibitionist celebrity will show us sooner or later.
Black jackets contrasted with sharply jutting lapels and oversize cuffs in white stood out as ’80s-redux chic, especially when paired with stonewashed denim in cuts that were slouchy but sexy. The fancy denim puffer coat was an excellent idea—so good that it is bound to be copied repeatedly. Along with the boldly colored corduroys, forgiving tweeds, and pajama pants that sparkled, this was Rousteing giving current or prospective Balmain customers the go-to pieces, not just collector’s items.
Ultimately, though, he seems to still care most about making Balmain “iconic”—as in, defining Beyoncé’s style or being included in museum exhibitions. As in, the new B bag and a forthcoming couture collection (for January, the maison has been invited as a guest member). “We’re starting to get such a strong identity,” he said. “We’ve reached the level where you see who I am and who is the brand.” Indeed, they are indistinguishable.
