A SINGULAR HERITAGE

From a musical péniche gliding through the center of Paris to under-the-star runways dedicated to virtual show attendees, Olivier Rousteing has overseen a series of innovative solutions, in order to present his vision of Balmain’s distinctive optimism and heritage during 2020’s long months of lockdowns and worries. This second episode of l’Atelier Balmain explores Olivier Rousteing’s dedication to adapting Pierre Balmain impressive legacy for today’s generation.

Balmain’s July 2020 celebration of the house’s heritage could not have been more Parisian. It even took place on a quintessential Parisian mode of transport: a péniche (péniches are the enormous flat-bedded barges that have long been used to ship items through the very heart of Paris, up and down the French capital’s river, the Seine). The show’s péniche was a very special one, outfitted with a shining mirrored deck, as it carried twenty-one models, a dozen dancers, Olivier Rousteing and one of his favorite French singers, Yseult, through the heart of historic Paris, starting below the Eiffel Tower and ending up in the shadow of Notre Dame. The unique pathway of the runway was reflected in the presentation’s distinctive name: Balmain-Sur-Seine.

Socially-distanced Parisians were invited to view the runway and listen to Yseult’s incredible voice from either bank of the river, as well as from the many famous bridges that cross the Seine. It was at those beautiful bridges that other groups of dancers were posted, as well. Rousteing had worked with Beyoncé’s collaborator Andrew Makadsi and the French choreographer Jean-Charles Jousni to ensure that the show and music on Balmain’s peniche corresponded perfectly with the dancers’ performances above. And, to make the connection to the house’s heritage as complete as possible, Balmain-Sur-Seine’s models wore a mix of amazing pieces pulled from Balmain’s archives, as well as some of Olivier Rousteing’s more recent designs.

Just like this summer’s Balmain-Sur-Seine, the house’s September runway presentation turned to new tools and methods to channel a message set squarely upon Balmain’s unique legacy of daring and optimism in the face of difficult times.

Very little about the house’s September runway resembled a typical presentation. For example, since house friends, colleagues and VIPs could not attend, Rousteing and his team decided to include them digitally, filling the front rows with large screens that brought familiar faces—including Ana Wintour, Claudia Schieffer, Cara Delevingne, Jennifer Lopez and Cindy Crawford—back to Paris Fashion Week, (at least for one show).

Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain Spring 2021 presentation, which took place on special temporary stage erected inside Paris’ beautiful, 400-year-old Jardin des Plantes on the evening of September 30th held quite a few surprises.

Among them, was the show’s very unusual opening

Typically, a runway is finished when the designer walks out on the catwalk to wave a final good-bye to those attending the show. But for Balmain’s Spring 2021 runway, the presentation actually began when Olivier Rousteing seated himself on a chair in the middle of the wide stage. Around him slowly meandered Amalia, Axelle, Barbara, Charlotte, Sonia and Violeta—six models that Paris’ fashion cognoscenti remembered well from their glory days of decades past. Rousteing, working closely with the talented fashion historian Olivier Saillard, had reunited those iconic models, in order to recreate the unique ambiance of the fashion salon presentations that took place during the early years of Pierre Balmain. Until the modern version of the fashion show began in the ‘70s, Pierre Balmain — like every other Paris couture designer—would typically present his latest designs in the center of small salon spaces, usually at the Balmain headquarters, selling his latest collections directly to the clients seated around the models. In these controlled environments, the emphasis was always placed more on the client than the media, with a running commentary often explaining the detail and inspiration of each offering.

Rousteing and Saillard had decided on this nostalgic ambiance, complete with recorded quotes in English and French from Pierre Balmain, to highlight one of the central themes of the night: heritage.

Rousteing and his design team pushed themselves to explore the many possibilities of the PB pattern—something that helped to give a sort of “Where’s Waldo” challenge to this collection. You may need to pay extra attention and look closely to spot the many small, delicate and tone-on-tone iterations of the pattern, then pull back to recognize the placement of the intertwined initials on our quilted jackets and dazzling Swarovski-embellished takes.
Echoing Pierre Balmain’s custom of shooting his designs outside the house’s original flagship, Rousteing shot the collection on the streets of Paris, (or better said, overlooking the street—setting himself and the models behind the enormous glass windows of the house’s Saint-Honoré boutique, in order to maintain the required social distancing).
 

In February 2021, Olivier Rousteing and the entire Balmain team were thrilled to see Yseult acclaimed as France’s best new talent of the year, during the ceremony of the Victoires de la Musique (the French equivalent of the Grammys). Seven months earlier, Yseult had cruised through a sunny Paris atop a reconfigured peniche—alongside Olivier Rousteing and his models and dancers— singing her beautiful compositions during the Balmain-Sur-Seine presentation.

Yseult is known for giving her own modern take on the classic style of the “variété française.” “I grew up listening to Edith Piaf, Barbara, Jacques Brel, Lara Fabian, Patricia Kaas,” she explained to the Guardian after her Victoires win. “The pared-down French classicism of their songs was what I always wanted my own music to be about.”

To that traditional sound, Yseult adds her strong, modern and engaged voice, calling for true racial equality and body positivism. A year ago, she released the song “Noir,” which you hear in the background of this episode. Once again beginning with the iconic voice-piano mix of French classic songs, Yseult manages to go much deeper—as she always does—celebrating her own beauty, while recalling daily struggles.

In his press release for the Balmain-Sur-Seine presentation, Olivier Rousteing discussed how 2020’s tragic events of racial violence had deeply moved him—and how he had managed to find hope in the impressive popular responses that we all witnessed—once which filled the streets both in France and America. “These renewed calls for justice and equality—heard on streets all across the world today—are in reaction to tragic losses, but their growing strength and force allow us to dream of the possibilities of long-delayed changes, pushed forward by a newly energized and impressive mix of young, determined and diverse voices.”
And Rousting’s belief that progress is possible was clearly echoed in each and every one of the songs and dances selected for the Balmain-sur-Seine moment.