“Luxury has many meanings,” Olivier Rousteing mused tonight. “And this is screaming luxury.” For his first full menswear show since the eve of the pandemic four years ago — via last season’s warm-up presentation in the salon — Rousteing turned his maximalism higher, higher, higher. “I’m not a quiet man,” he mused.
The AI-generated opening face, transposed onto a crystal top layer, set the tone for what was to come; Intricate engineering and extravagant embellishment combine to create must-have clothing. “So many people are laughing at my lips,” Rousteing said before the show as he led us through a series of looks that reclaimed the punch line and blew several tongue-in-cheek kisses to the gossips. Lip cummerbunds, brooches, jacquard suits, shirt prints and monochrome prints on bombers and shirts, as well as some fabulous pavé crystal bracelets and lip toe shoes, created for a head-to-toe response.
After a polka dot section, he moved on to a tribute to Congo’s tailoring cult, the sapeurs. Their Ten Commandments include this line: “Thou shalt ngayas (non-experts), the ngangs (ignorant) the tindongos (aimless talkers) on earth, underground at sea and in heaven.” To meet that brief, Rousteing delivered strong-shouldered and high-waisted silhouettes in full-wattage color mixes. Next was a print collaboration with Prince Gyasi of Accra. Rousteing reproduced his images on garments and turned them into clothing: the triptych of look 38 was adapted from a Gyasi photograph. Another collaboration, with Cameroonian Ibby Njoya, transformed suitcases and small hard cases into much-loved luggage.
A jacket with an inverted tulip hem and layers of white cashmere arranged to form an eyelet was a key performance in a tailored suit draped with a sharp and precise beauty. A gold coat, gold facial sculptures, stacked gold chains, a gold briefcase and a gold helmet – ‘for when you don’t want to be seen’ – added even more sparkle. At the end we saw Naomi Campbell in a surreal belt whose closure consisted of two hands clasped together to hold a golden bouquet of golden flowers. She wore a beige cashmere jacket, Rousteing’s only concession to so-called ‘quiet luxury’. As he noted, Balmain has gone from €20 million in revenues a year to €300 million under his watch, “so I’m not going to be quiet now.” Why would he?
