Olivier Rousteing’s tenure at Balmain has lasted a dozen years already, but to hear him tell it he’s still “finding confidence” with the house. “I live almost every day of my life like a new chapter,” the designer offered during a showroom visit.
It may ring counterintuitive, but it takes confidence to dive into the archives of a designer whose name is now more closely associated with Rousteing than it is with a founder’s signature-the kind that, decades if not a century on, remains the lifeblood of other heritage houses. Mention Pierre Balmain, and few would be able to summon a catchphrase like ”jolie madame.”
