A little over a month after Olivier Rousteing celebrated his 15th anniversary as creative director at Balmain—and the 80th anniversary of the maison’s founding—he is stepping down. The French designer was just 25 and working at Balmain under Christophe Decarnin who had transformed the business with his power shoulders and ultra-short hemlines, when he was announced as his successor in 2010. It was a lot of pressure for Rousteing, whose appointment made him the first Black designer to helm a French luxury house. But his debut collection proved he was more than up to the task; his low-slung trousers and opulently embroidered cropped boxy jackets became the cool girl uniform overnight, keeping Balmain’s signature sex appeal while softening its more extreme edges and making it more wearable. It’s a look that would go on to define the style of the early 2010s.
Rousteing’s driving force was a desire to be one with the people, to reach the masses even though his product was decidedly haute. He launched menswear in 2011 which quickly proved to be a commercial success. And he opened an Instagram account in 2013, when social media was still seen as something at odds with the world of luxury. It was 2015 when he nabbed the coveted H&M designer collaboration slot. The collection included many recreations of looks that had walked Rousteing’s own runways. “It’s really exciting for me to think about seeing all the kids who’ve always dreamed of wearing Balmain in this collection. I love my followers on Instagram because they always tell me exactly what they think about my designs. After every show it’s their comments that I care most about. They tell me the pieces they would do anything to wear, and I wanted to make this collection for them,” he told Vogue at the time.
It wasn’t long before the Balmain Army was born. These were women who inspired him, ones who could always be counted on wearing his clothes, chief among them Kim Kardashian, who also brought in her family—Kendall, Kylie, Kris. et al, long before the fashion industry understood the power of their influence. In 2018, he designed the costumes for Beyoncé’s legendary Coachella performance—dubbed Beychella—as well as for all of her dancers. For his tenth anniversary at Balmain, he staged a show open to the public (6,000 people attended) complete with a performance by Doja Cat. In 2022 he was the third designer invited to create a couture collection at Jean Paul Gaultier, following turns from Sacai’s Chitose Abe and Glenn Martens. In a full-circle moment, his spring 2026 show took place at the same location at his debut, though the clothes had an altogether looser, more bohemian appeal, a symbol of a man fully relaxing into his own self. As he moves on, see his best Balmain looks in Vogue.
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