Balmain's New Creative Director
Do safety pins still hold a place in the French fashion house's future?
Yearning for some designer news that isn't related to Kate Middleton's wedding dress? Yesterday it was announced that Christophe Decarnin, former creative director of French fashion house Balmain, will be succeeded by the virtually unknown Olivier Rousteing. Rousteing (pronounced ROO-stan) has been in charge of Balmain's womenswear design studio since he joined the label in 2009; before joining Balmain, he worked for five years at Roberto Cavalli. He is also, as you may have noticed, very handsome!
Attendees at Balmain's recent Paris Fashion Week show started Twitterverse hysteria when then-Creative Director, Christophe Decarnin, failed to take his post-show bow on the catwalk.
The internal promotion could be a welcome change for the fashion house. Though Decarnin's contribution has been prolific, ever since he introduced his rock 'n' roll aesthetic in 2008, collections have been a little same-same (and, at times, a little Ed Hardy - seriously) from season-to-season. Like everyone else, we're intrigued to see whether Rousteing will continue in this vein ? and, if not, perhaps the fashion-pack uniform will boast slightly narrower shoulders.
Words: Hannah Ongley
