More than any designer of his generation Olivier Rousteing has proven himself savvy at rousing fashion into a megaphone for outreach. At last June’s menswear show, the (RED) ambassador threw a music festival to benefit HIV research, in September he ventured into inclusive beauty with Kylie Cosmetics, and on the eve of Vogue’s Fashion Forces conference last month, he was in Lyon—with President Macron, Bill Gates, and Bono—for The Global Fund Replenishment Conference. His autobiographical documentary Wonder Boy recently aired to impressive reviews in France too. “If I can push fashion into a different place to help the world, that’s how I love fashion,” he said.
For Pre-Fall, the designer is nudging Balmain into a different world too. With Gen Z coming into its own, Rousteing feels that now the time has come to let a broader audience in on the fun. That starts with a return to the house’s traditional strength, tailoring, with a concise lineup of suiting staples at prices that will be easier for many to embrace. Rousteing said that his “new dandy” is inspired by friends and colleagues in the C-suite. “Those guys are strong; they’ve got great careers—they expect something different from Balmain,” he said. “Even if I love embroidery and embellishment, I’m starting to get how a man can love a double-breasted navy and serge jacket with simple buttons.”
The results spanned a simple, sharp-shouldered jacket to a deconstructed jacket with an integrated waistcoat and white lapel—daring in some circles, but tame in comparison to what might be expected from Balmain. As an exercise, it was utterly convincing. “I’m getting older, as well,” Rousteing offered with a pragmatic shrug. “It’s great because I’m starting to expect other things from my wardrobe.” To wit, he wore a blue-and-white striped shirt and a long, tailored jacket over the futuristic moonwalker sneakers he’s been sporting of late. “Streetwear is important, but luxury needs to be based on timeless pieces, not trends,” he said, slipping into a sweeping cashmere greatcoat with expansive lapels, one of his favorite statements this season, and a sartorial homage of sorts to slouchy-chic as lensed by Peter Lindbergh.
Not that Rousteing would hew so minimalist as to forsake Balmain’s outsider-y status. His “rock ’n’ roll, sexy man” may be perfectly aware that he lives in a jeans-and-black-turtleneck world, but he’ll top it with an extravaganza of a “cable knit” jacket fully embellished with crystals, or perhaps a Bonapartian “couture” peacoat stacked with gold frogging, or a black satin bomber with the planets and constellations mapped out in crystals “for the glamour traveler.”
On that note, the black evening jacket with a geyser of crystals was for the man who knows perfectly well that diamonds are a guy’s best friend too. In a more streetwear vein, a husky baying at a full moon against the Aurora Borealis was this season’s spirit animal, on various iterations of oversized T-shirts. “It’s about escape, the beauty of nature, and being blown away by the most beautiful landscape you can see,” Rousteing said. For those headed that way, he’s got a sneaker-ranger hybrid shoe that can help get you there.
