#balmain festival

Olivier Rousteing’s 10th Anniversary Balmain Show!

The Bordeaux-born designer is a graduate of the Paris fashion and art school ESMOD, and he worked at Roberto Cavalli in Milan for almost six years before joining Balmain.

After a decade at the helm of the French brand, his confidence has grown, he feels truly like an adult and the fashion house has multiplied in size sevenfold as he added pre-collections, men’s wear and accessories — along with heat and cultural currency.

Despite his youth, or perhaps because of it, he thrust himself and the house to social media stardom; put diversity and inclusivity at the top of his agenda, and took a community-building approach to everything he did, welcoming all to join his “Balmain army” as early as 2014, when he coaxed Rihanna to pose for one of his blockbuster campaigns.

Imaan Hammam, Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Natalia Vodianova, Adut Akech, Lara Stone and Edie Campbell were just some of the A-List faces who modelled Rousteing’s signature designs, donning cut-out dresses, heavily embellished jackets and bead-encrusted shorts.

The Balmain Festival raised funds for his long-time charity partner (RED) in the fight against AIDS and Covid-19, and to aid women in third-world countries.

A jaw-dropping collection, a history-making night and a charity effort? It’s fair to say that for his 10th anniversary, Olivier Rousteing has scored a 10/10!