Olivier Rousteing has more than one reason to be cheery. He’s about to jet off for Los Angeles where he’s opening a new Melrose Avenue store and announcing an as-yet-undisclosed collaboration; he’s working with L’Oréal on a small makeup range set for a September debut; he just designed costumes for Renaissance, a new ballet by Sébastien Bertaud at the Paris Opera; and France elected Emmanuel Macron. “With the election, the good vibe is back,” Rousteing said, noting that he takes particular pride in dressing the country’s new First Lady Brigitte Macron.
And so, the pro-France sentiments he expressed with his Spring 2018 menswear collection—heavy on the marinière stripes, heavier on the chain-accented tweeds—extended into the Resort offering he showed by appointment today in a temporary showroom. Oh yeah, the company is moving into bigger headquarters, too. Rousteing’s Balmain has always been about exuberance—there were Americanisms like fringe and Western shirt detailing in the mix here, too—but this collection benefitted from a new sense of softness and ease. Though there was plenty here that was still wildly over the top, the most compelling pieces didn’t have the carapace-like quality of some of his recent runway work. Chalk that up to a) the collection’s informality and b) its Parisienne familiarity. Of his men’s show he said, “It was more me. It used to be I started the collection trying to please the customer, now the customer is buying what I wear.” The takeaway: It never hurts to add jeans.
