A getaway in the middle of nature. In the heart of Paris Fashion Week, Balmain presented its Fall-Winter 2024 ready-to-wear collection at the Pavillon Cambon in Paris' first arrondissement on February 28. The parade was deliciously bucolic, like an invitation to go and recharge your batteries in the countryside.
Once again, designer Olivier Rousteing, a virtuoso of French fashion and head of the brand since 2009, returned to the silhouettes drawn by the great post-war couturier Pierre Balmain. Last fall, despite the spectacular theft of around fifty looks a few days before the show (the trial of the alleged thieves of the stolen collection will take place this Thursday), the house presented a floral collection with a decidedly retro air, starring beautiful reds and cream pinks.
In the same spirit, for the autumn-winter 2024 season, the French designer continued his exploration of the house's emblematic looks from the 1950s and Monsieur Balmain's passion for gardens and green landscapes.
A profusion of grapes
Paying homage to his native Bordeaux, Olivier Rousteing cultivated his green thumb with a collection dotted with generous bunches of grapes. This prized and essential fruit of the French wine region appeared in all-over prints covering jumpsuits and sheath dresses, in bright embroidery, and even in 3D with a gold clutch and parma earrings.
The silhouettes, which incorporate the characteristic elements of Pierre Balmain's 'New French Style' (such as the daring play of volumes between a very tight waist, XXL shoulders and 50s-style pointed conical bras) are inspired by architecture and the “classic “. but “elegant” the charm of this coastal metropolis, in the designer's words.
Indispensable for rainy afternoons, the trench coat became “the” emblematic garment of the 39-year-old designer's Bordeaux wardrobe, thanks to the somewhat capricious climate. This military-inspired garment was given pleated details and transformed into a kimono-style dress with epaulettes and cropped hooded jackets in an earth-toned palette. Literally blended with meadow green: an oversized moss-colored faux fur coat.
Another symbol of the city of Gironde: snails. Classics of the region's gastronomy, these small terrestrial gastropods appeared, as if after the rain, in many of the designs of this feminine collection: their hypnotic spiral and self-winding shell, adorned with a sumptuous golden metal shell, as well as like with buttons. , jewelry and solid belts.
The traditional black and white Vichy tablecloth redesigned
The Vichy print tablecloth, an essential element of a picnic on the grass, was proposed in a contemporary version with a tutti frutti dress – very gourmet – made of a jacquard fabric with black and white sequins. Perfect for planning the best Balmain picnic.
Most outfits were accessorized with the house's latest leather goods creation, the 'Jolie Madame' bag, a highly sculptural leather accessory with an isosceles triangle design, yet another nod to the founder's stylistic heritage. Bags imitating traditional wicker baskets and poppy-colored shopping nets were also used as handbags.
In total, almost sixty silhouettes paraded under the glass roof of the Pavillon Cambon, before an audience made up of guests, editors and celebrities, including the Franco-Malian singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura, the Californian singer Cher, the Turkish actress and the it-girl Hande Ercel and American Vogue icon Anna Wintour.
“After several collections inspired by the beauty of my current place of residence, Paris, and a series of presentations that channel the spirit, craftsmanship and extraordinary motifs of my biological parents' Africa, I now return to Bordeaux, the city that did,” highlights designer Olivier Rousteing in a press release from the brand.
Just over a month ago, at January's Paris Fashion Week, dedicated to men's fashion, the Parisian brand presented a menswear collection designed as a vibrant homage to the African kings of sartorial design, featuring supermodel Naomi Campbell as a surprise guest.
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