"The Sky Is the Limit" for Olivier Rousteing's Balmain
The luxury house is welcoming sustainability with its new evian collaboration, and Hypebeast has found out all.
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Balmain Festival is unlike any other fashion show in the world, let alone on the Paris Fashion Week calendar. With Olivier Rousteing at the helm, it sees the luxury brand take over monumental spaces — this time Paris’ Stade Jean Bouin — with over 12,000 friends of the house in attendance. Of course, the Balmain Army is in full force to display the fashion designer’s latest creations, but much more goes into Balmain Festival than just the clothes. It’s a space and time for Rousteing to explore his utmost versatility and talent, pushing the boundaries of what a fashion presentation can and should be. Here, showcases are en masse and the focal point — previously seeing Olly Alexander of Years and Years perform — with this year’s talent being Shygirl, and a special runway moment from none other than Cher herself.
Limited-edition Balmain merchandise, as well as food trucks brimmed with custom refreshments, add to the overarching feel of a festival, while of course, the clothes do not take a backseat. This season, there’s a prominent focus on sustainability. For Spring/Summer 2023, a collaboration with evian is at the forefront of the collection, something Rousteing notes as part of the house’s 21st-century breakthrough via the means of technology. Adding to this, he says:
“Of course, I rely on the richness of this house’s archives for inspiration and the incredible traditional savoir-faire of Balmain’s legendary atelier to make my designs possible. But I am determined to use those tools in entirely new ways, in order to create surprising, innovative and—above all—modern collections. My team and I are always on the lookout for inventive solutions that would allow us to use time-honored Parisian finesse to masterfully perfect the latest 21st-century breakthroughs in tech, craft and tissue. And that’s why we really loved exploring all the possibilities for this Balmain x evian partnership.”
With couture at the core, a dress has been created using a single fabric woven from threads derived from recycled evian bottles, which is sustainable from the offset and also, thanks to it being a mono-material tissue, is equally easy to recycle. Like the water evian’s bottles hold, the dress follows the form and glistening beauty of H2o, using an expert pleating method to clash with sparkling details for something aquatic in its nature.
Aside from the gown, Balmain also presented full looks that could have doubled as Renaissance paintings, body suits crafted from hand-woven leather to create hips inspired by centuries gone by, suits cut from creased papers that welcomed a sustainable aesthetic, and more, including couture dresses woven in wicker, or other looks made from banana.
Minutes before last night’s Balmain Festival Vol. 3, Hypebeast spoke to Olivier Rousteing to find out more about the evian collaboration.
Courtesy Of Balmain/Evian
Courtesy Of Balmain/Evian
Hypebeast: What does the Balmain x evian collaboration mean to you?
Olivier Rousteing: For me, it’s a one-of-a-kind collaboration. evian is about sustainability and it thinks about the future of our planet, and I’m telling you the truth, in fashion, everyone’s asking “what is the next sneaker, what is the next trend?” At the end of the day, instead of thinking about tomorrow’s trends, let’s think about what’s happening today.
“Fashion is always closing the doors, and right now I am opening them up.”
I’m really afraid. As a citizen of the world I see what we are all going through and I think about how I can bring sustainability, how we can recycle the fashion industry, and how to make it cool, couture, and maximal. My collection is based on this and about finding the best craftsmanship and using the most unexpected fabric — that makes me proud to say that I work in the fashion industry and still believe in the future of the next generation.
Balmain continues its own legacy. Will sustainability be the next factor in carrying this message?
Balmain always carries the message of diversity and inclusivity. [With Balmain Festival], we have 12,000 people – fashion is always closing the doors, and right now I am opening them up. I need to find out what the world of tomorrow is; Balmain is loud about its legacy and I’ve created a Balmain Army of great soldiers who lead the world, so, tonight we are leading the world in a different way.
You might not expect me to be sustainable, but I am sustainable in my own personal life. This is part of my personal circle, my beliefs, and now I am building my beliefs into Balmain.
Working with evian was challenging, but they have so much awareness of fashion. They have incredible fabric and I had to make it couture but also wearable every day, so this is what we did.
Dominique Charriau/Getty Images
On the topic of challenges – how did this collaboration make you feel?
I think it was challenging. I’m not used to starting here. The fabric wasn’t something we were used to. It’s classic, like silk, like Versaille, but there’s modernity to it too. I would say this is the soul of couture, with the fabric, but it’s more than just modern. It was about how we could make couture and make it that next step – the next generation will do that, I am sure, because we all want to believe in a better world.
So is Balmain paving the way for sustainability in luxury and couture?
I am telling you the truth! This is pushing my designs, being minimal and sustainable is sometimes easier. Doing something maximal and flamboyant with fabric that is all recycled plastic is really different. I am pushing all my teams in all my departments to [be sustainable], and I cannot be 100% sustainable at Balmain that is impossible, but what I can do is push for more and learn and teach my suppliers.
What does the dress stand for?
I would say confidence. I would say going beyond trends – les tendances. Saying, “I am wearing evian couture Balmain, not just because I love fashion but because I love my world.” When I open the door to such a big audience, this is the same as wearing the dress – I love the fashion industry, but I haven’t forgotten the world around me.
What has the collaboration with evian taught you?
That the sky is the limit. The evian team has been incredible, really generous with their teaching and to open their doors to me and my team to understand how to make a collection with their fabrics, with their knowledge. I would say, for me, it’s not about just the bottle [and the dress], but I hope the beginning of a collaboration that will stay forever.
Take a look at the Balmain Festival above, with a particular focus on that sustainable couture evian collaboration dress, and find more Paris Fashion Week SS23 content across Hypebeast as the events go on.
