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WHO

• 32 years old

• Adopted when 5 months old by Bruno-Jean and Lydia Rousteing, a white family from a conservative town in France called Bordeaux

  • Adopted because they mom had cancer when she was younger and couldn’t have children anymore

  • Very liberal

• Grew up in a comfortable house, self-described as a “spoilt and naughty only child”

• Rough years in high school, bullied for liking fashion and being gay, and for being the only black person in his family

• Parents wanted him to go to law school, went for a couple of months and then dropped out

• Went to the Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode where he studied fashion for 6 months.

 

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WHAT

• Started out by working his way up to a designer for women’s and men’s ready-to-wear at Roberto Cavalli, but in 2009 left the company because he “think{s} I needed also to learn who I am”.

• In 2009, he wrote to Christope Decarnin, then creative director of Balmain, who then offered him a job as a womenswear designer for Balmain. Long story short, after Decarnin abruptly stepped down, Rousteing was promoted to creative Director at 25, the youngest creative director of a luxury fashion house since Yves Saint Laurent.

• Now, as the creative director he turned a failing brand into an internationally sought after luxury brand.

  • Instead of using draping to emphasize femininity like Pierre Balmain did, he uses it to emphasize and exude a woman’s confidence.

  • In his first year, sales rose by 25%

  • Uses a personal social media account, the first Parisian luxury creative director to do so, to get the word out.

  • Pushes the boundaries with luxury vs. pop culture by using celebrities such as the Kardashians, Justin Bieber, and Rosie Huntington Whiteley to name a few to promote his brand.

 

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WHEN

• NOW

• Collaborations with H&M, L’Oreal, and most recently reveal Victoria’s Secret make it one of the hottest brands right now

  • H&M is no stranger to designer collaborations. Previously has worked with Alexander Wang, Karl Lagerfeld, and Betsy Johnson to name a few. However, within seconds of the launch the online microsite for Balmain x H&M crashed, once revived sold out, and resale rates were going for 3-5 times the retail cost directly after the event, and now are going for around 1.5 time the resale rate.

• Dressed all the Kardashian-Jenner clan for the Met Gala

• Dressed Justin Bieber for the Met Gala and attended with him

• Dressed Beyoncé in a custom lace body suit for her Formation world tour

• Collaborate on Kanye West’s music video for Wolves from his album The Life of Pablo

• Balmain was mentioned in Anaconda by Nicki Minaj in 2014 and in Kid Cudi’s song “Balmain Jeans”

 

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WHERE

• When Rousteing got hold of the brand, it was only a Parisian brand that was located off Champs-Élysées in a six story eighteenth-century building, the same building it was founded in by Pierre Balmain in 1945.

• Company is expanding into the global market. Within his team, Rousteing has representatives for Europe, Asia, the U.S., Brazil, and the Middle East.

• Where does he get his inspiration:

  • Grandmother, who loves Chanel Pearls

  • Women, wants them to feel empowered and sexy in his clothes

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WHY

• Giving the face of luxury something we haven’t seen before

  • Pop culture and luxury have always been at odds

  • Creative directors were worried about keep a distinction between the two so that they could maintain an exclusive image that kept people coming to their brands.

  • Olivier Rousteing however see things in a different way. Pop culture is a means to an end to globalize and democratize Balmain

  • While Balmain is still a luxury brand, by doing collaborations with businesses like H&M and L’Oréal he is making a part of the brand accessible to A.) those who cannot afford their regular prices and B.) the younger generation that is the future Balmain customer.