Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing Is More Interested in Promoting Diversity Than His Clothes
Kris Jenner is in the house y’all! Photo: Getty Images
You never know which celebrity will pop up in which front row during Paris Fashion Week—except for one. Kris Jenner’s a given at Balmain, especially now that daughters Kylie and Kendall are two of the faces featured in the brand’s latest campaign, and the latter is guaranteed to walk its runway.
Post-show, the matriarch gushed. “My favorite pieces have to be the ones that Kendall wore,” she told Yahoo Style. “Gigi and Bella looked beautiful.” (Shocker!)
But it was designer Olivier Rousteing who really had something to say about his SS16 collection. The designer, who recently crossed the 1 million follower mark on Instagram, said he was inspired both by turning 30—which the fashion industry could consider old—and by being part of the digital generation. “I am actually part of a new generation,” he told us post-show. “And this is what it is: different women, strong women, different backgrounds, different colors, diversity. What I loved about fashion when I was 25 and it was my first year as a creative director was making clothes. What I love at 30 is expressing a message and a vision,” he said. “More than clothes there is diversity.”
A look from Balmain’s SS16 collection. Photo: Getty Images
Rousteing actually credits much of his new perspective to his upcoming collaboration with H&M. “I realized that even at 30 I can achieve an identity, some people have to wait for longer,” he said. “I just want to show that fashion is a dream that is accessible to everybody, to make sure that we’re not close-minded and we open the door to fashion more than ever.”
That’s a lofty, democratic statement coming from a young designer thoroughly entrenched in the Parisian establishment and at the helm of a 70-year-old brand. But it’s clear that after five years of leading Balmain, Rousteing’s reevaluating exactly what it is he’s doing. “I try and push myself in different directions, different colors, different shapes, try to work with more fragility with the clothes, keeping the structure and the richness and glamour of Balmain, but at the same time working with different colors.”
A look from Balmain’s SS16 collection. Photo: Getty Images
If that all sounds really deep coming from the wunderkind who helped put the Kardashians on the fashion map, he has plenty of thoughts about them too. Rousteing’s featured Kim, Kanye, Kylie, and Kendall in Balmain’s ads, dressed them for endless red carpet events, and had the honor of dressing Kris for her first ever Met Ball—even though she was a guest of Tommy Hilfiger. “What I love about the Kardashians is that they are all different, and cool and powerful and strong,” he says. “They have a vision.”
So does Rousteing — and it sure is fun to watch.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
