Balmain’s Renaissance

«’Cause I’m strong enough,» as sung by Cher, who for the grand finale of the third edition of Balmain festival appears on the almost endless runway at the center of the Jean-Bouin stadium. The audience goes wild on the parterre and on the stands. 1,000 guests, almost 6,000 spectators that managed to buy a ticket and who have already amassed to find, among the guests, Kylie Jenner and Neymar. They have already cheered over 100 looks. They lifted their smartphones up in a shower of flashes when Precious Lee and Ashley Graham hit the runway. Yet they seem restless when Cher, called by the Maison for the video presentation of the new bag showed on the maxi screens at the beginning of the show, suddenly appeared.

And she closed the runway in a second-skin bodysuit, as if she stopped time and age (she is 76), hugged by Balmain’s creative director, Oliver Rousteing. The legend herself hand in hand with the legend himself. Cher thanked him on Twitter: «Show was probably best fashion show “ever”!! Models were beauty from another universe. Clothes to die for. Olivier to die for. Stage was calling me Cher… Oh Cher… Come home…». The enfant prodige of French fashion does not refuse to gift his Balmain army a wow effect, while investigating serious business. «After a summer of heat waves, droughts, forest fires and storms, I am certain I am not the only one wondering about a possible dystopian future,» Rousteing himself explains. «Relying on science and guided by our love for this endangered planet, we must focus on changes toward a rebirth. It may seem like an impossible idea, but do not forget that we have done it before».

Indeed, the designer relies on the corresponding French term, «renaissance,» whose hope, beauty and progress he now celebrates. Art and sculpture between the 14th and 16th centuries are replicated on the looks, in prints. Planets are like astronomically sized accessories. And there are untreated raw materials to avoid water pollution caused by chemical dyes. However, always in bold constructions that show «the fascinating richness and complex sophistication of the natural world». Thus, on the one hand, Balmain is holding fast to its green commitment, which also sees a high percentage of earth-friendly fabrics for the production of the Fall 2022 collection and a promise to complete the transition to certified sustainable wool by next season. On the other hand, the fashion house does not relent on the preciousness of draping, weaving, patchwork and sculpture-like pieces, which Rousteing considers an expression of sustainability in their being durable and timeless. «The incredible artistry of the artisans in Balmain's atelier helps underscore another key element of a possible future reboot of fashion,» Olivier Rousteing concluded, closing the show with Balmain Couture Spring 2023, where he celebrates Africa (the designer recently discovered that his birth parents come from the Horn of Africa, ed.). Chestnut bark was turned into a bustier, while oak bark was shaped into a small dress. Among raffia, burlap ropes and twigs, none of them severed.

Judgment. «There is still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done,» Olivier Rousteing commented. However, the path is defined and dotted with iconic moments. (All rights reserved)