“Luxurious has many meanings,” mused Olivier Rousteing tonight. “And that is screaming luxurious.” For his first full menswear present because the eve of the pandemic 4 years in the past—by way of final season’s heat up salon presentation—Rousteing cranked his maximalism up, up, up. “I’m not a quiet man,” he mused.
The opening AI-generated face transposed onto a crystal topcoat set the tone for what was to come back; intricate approach and indulgent embellishment mixed to create unmissable garments. “So many individuals snigger about my lips,” stated Rousteing pre-show as he walked us via a collection of appears that reclaimed the punchline and blew a number of ironic kisses on the gossips. Lip cummerbunds, brooches, jacquard suiting, shirt prints, and monochrome prints on bombers and shirts in addition to some superb pavé-crystal bracelets and lip-toed footwear made for a top-to-bottom riposte.
After a polka dot part he shifted right into a homage to Congo’s sartorial cult, the sapeurs. Their ten commandments embody this rule: “Thou shalt subdue the ngayas (non-knowers), the nbendes (ignorant) the tindongos (aimless talkers) on earth, underground at sea, and within the heavens.” To meet that transient Rousteing delivered powerfully shouldered and high-waisted silhouettes in full-wattage coloration mixes. Subsequent up was a print collaboration with Accra based mostly Prince Gyasi. Rousteing reproduced his photos on clothes and turned them into garments: look 38’s triptych was tailored from a Gyasi photograph. One other collaboration, with Cameroonian Ibby Njoya, reworked suitcases and tiny laborious circumstances into extremely lovable baggage.
An inverted tulip hemmed coat with layers of white cashmere organized to kind a watch was a key achievement in a set of tailoring that draped with a pointy and exact magnificence. A gold coat, gold face sculptures, heaped gold chains, a gold briefcase and a gold helmet—“for if you don’t need to be seen”—added extra luster. On the finish we noticed Naomi Campbell in a surrealist belt whose fastening was two palms clasped to carry a golden bouquet of golden flowers. She wore a beige cashmere jacket, Rousteing’s sole concession to so-called “quiet luxurious.” As he identified, Balmain has gone from 20 million euros in income a 12 months to 300 million beneath his watch, “so I’m not gonna begin being quiet now.” Why ought to he?
