Balmain

The Balmain fashion house was founded in 1945 in Paris at 44 rue François 1er. The label’s founder, Pierre Balmain, former assistant to Lucien Lelong with Christian Dior, established his “Jolie Madame” style quite early on: a chic and sleek silhouette, worlds apart from the casual trend of those times. While releasing his couture creations, the prolific designer also launched three fragrances between 1946 and 1949 and continued to produce for the house until his death in 1982.

The label’s rebirth came along with Christophe Decarnin, creative designer at Balmain from 2006 to 2011.  

Olivier Rousteing was born in 1985 and grew up in Bordeaux before moving to Paris to attend classes at the ESMOD fashion school. He quickly realized that the classes did not fit his needs and decided to travel. In 2003, he started working atRoberto Cavalli where he stayed five years. In 2009, he joined Balmain to supervise the women’s ready-to-wearcreations working with Christophe Decarnin, the label’s creative designer at the time. In 2011, Olivier Rousteing succeeded Christophe Decarnin.