Pierre Balmain was one of many earliest designers to know the facility of superstar in trend. The French couturier constructed shut relationships with the superstars of his period, dressing them for the stage and display — a legacy that continues underneath the home’s present inventive director, Olivier Rousteing.
When Balmain launched his namesake home in post-war Paris, he launched a waist-cinched silhouette that shortly grew to become a favourite among the many superstar set. He dressed icons reminiscent of Josephine Baker, Brigitte Bardot, Katharine Hepburn and Sophia Loren, serving to outline the visible language of Twentieth-century fame.
Baker grew to become a longtime collaborator, with Balmain designing elaborate, symbolic and glamorous ensembles for her movie and stage performances. One standout was the 1951 “4 Seasons” robe, paired with a velvet jacket that includes a dramatically tall collar. Their partnership endured till her closing present in 1975, cementing her picture as a trend icon.
Balmain additionally collaborated with Bardot on a number of movies. For “Her Bridal Evening,” he created a layered tulle wedding ceremony robe with floral appliqués. “And God Created Girl” showcased Bardot’s carefree persona in jumpsuits and female clothes, whereas “Love Is My Career” launched pencil skirts, wrap coats and signature LBDs.
Although Audrey Hepburn is most carefully related to Givenchy, she wore Balmain for her 1954 wedding ceremony to Mel Ferrer, selecting a tea-length gown with a satin sash, ballgown sleeves and excessive collar.
For Katharine Hepburn, Balmain designed the wardrobe for the 1952 West Finish manufacturing of “The Millionairess,” together with an embroidered robe with matching beaded gloves. When the movie was remade in 1960 starring Sophia Loren, Balmain once more took the reins, designing a pink gown with extravagant jewellery that married cinematic class with star energy.
His Hollywood connections continued with Jane Fonda, who wore Balmain within the 1964 thriller “Pleasure Home,” including Riviera glamour to the movie’s intrigue.
Balmain’s deeply private, long-running collaboration with French celebrity Dalida produced lots of her most memorable stage and movie appears — from the dramatic black velvet and gold Lurex cape ensemble worn in her 1983 Montreal live performance to the ethereal white “Ziberline” robe of 1973.
In a tribute, Dalida as soon as mentioned: “Pierre Balmain, for me, was life in pink, in silk, in lace — and typically in rhinestones.”
A number of of her Balmain designs had been later exhibited at Paris’ Palais Galliera in a 2017 retrospective present.
From the ’60s via the ’80s, Balmain additionally designed extensively for Queen Sirikit of Thailand, creating greater than 20 years’ value of royal daywear and night robes — many combining Western silhouettes with fashionable Thai silk. These items at the moment are preserved on the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok.
The Rousteing Period
Olivier Rousteing has inherited and advanced Balmain’s superstar custom, crafting red-carpet and arena-concert appears for a brand new era of stars whereas forming his personal “Balmain Military” of fashions and influencers.
One of many first luxurious designers to make use of social media like a digital native, Rousteing embraced Instagram early on. He noticed its potential not solely as an promoting platform, however as a cultural divining rod to level to music traits and general generational shifts. He has used social media to remain forward of the curve by understanding the cultural second earlier than it occurs.
He coined the time period “Balmain Military” to explain his collective of fashions, musicians, actors and influencers who characterize the model. It grew to become a cultural motion representing numerous magnificence and magnificence.
His imaginative and prescient merges excessive trend with mass media, usually blurring the road between runway and pop spectacle.
In 2022, Rousteing made headlines by bringing Cher onstage to shut his stadium present — open to the general public, in a daring transfer that merged trend week with pageant power. It was a full-circle second in Balmain’s longstanding relationship with music legends.
On the 2018 American Music Awards, Taylor Swift wore a futuristic Balmain minidress and thigh-high boots paired with snake jewellery — a glance that shattered her “princess” picture and aligned completely along with her rebellious “Fame” period.
For the 2022 Grammys, Rousteing labored with Lil Nas X on a completely customized Balmain wardrobe, together with crimson carpet, stage and even backstage loungewear — showcasing the home’s boundary-pushing imaginative and prescient.
However no fashionable collaboration has been extra important than Rousteing’s ongoing partnership with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, whom he calls his “without end muse.” Their inventive relationship started throughout her “Formation” tour and reached a peak at Coachella 2018, when Rousteing designed the wardrobe for Knowles-Carter and her 200-plus dancers and musicians. The efficiency, dubbed “Beychella,” grew to become a trend and cultural milestone.
In 2023, they deepened their collaboration with a 17-look couture assortment, codesigned by Rousteing and Knowles-Carter as a tribute to each her musical journey and the Balmain archive. The appears debuted on the Grammys and Brit Awards and have already been cemented as main trend moments.
A grasp of media and timing, Rousteing has an intuition for selecting the best superstar on the proper second. He doesn’t simply depend on established A-listers, he usually works with abilities earlier than their huge breakthroughs, which in flip helps create them.
Living proof: Tyla’s sculptural Balmain robe on the 2024 Met Gala — a body-hugging moist look crafted to resemble poured sand — match the “Backyard of Time” theme, however relatively than an anticipated floral, he approached it with a brand new twist. It instantly went viral and have become a defining second for the rising singer to cement herself as a trend drive.
The next yr, Jenna Ortega wore a Balmain creation constituted of silver tailoring tape and metallic rulers, an avant-garde nod to the artistry of couture development. The look was intelligent and performed up each the younger actress’ star potential and her willingness to take dangers simply as she was rising as a crimson carpet wild card.
What units Rousteing aside is his sense of cultural timing, his intuition to see stars as storytellers and his means to anticipate the tradition, not simply observe a pattern, to hold forth the home of Balmain.
