Balmain Pre-Fall 2023 Menswear Collection

Aged only a youthful 36, Oliver Rousteing is now 12 years into his stint as creative director of Balmain—which makes him the fourth longest-serving gun for hire of all the 40-plus equivalents in luxury fashion (excluding jewelry). Yet while he is immensely experienced, Rousteing’s youthful nature allows him to constantly reset his output in order to never slip into second album syndrome.

This expansive pre-fall collection for men and women was a designed conversation along two main lines. The first interacted with Rousteing’s own history with the brand, while the second riffed on that of Pierre Balmain, its founder. Sculptural womenswear and menswear marked by military frogging and structural facades of crystal echoed the lavishly directional flavor of luxury that Rousteing has developed with his house’s revived atelier. The platforms’ height signified Rousteing’s ongoing ambitions for the house, while the restored shoulderpads seemed a generous nod to Christophe Decarnin, who enabled Rousteing to inhabit his shoes.

Platforms led to flares, which inevitably led to the decade in which the house founder began to wind down his designed output. Rousteing stretched the boundaries of 1970s suiting into an almost sportily sleek—yet lavish—exploration of the body’s contours defined by button and seam. Dresses were fashioned from large squares of silk ingeniously tucked, pinned, and draped to echo Pierre’s own adventures in foulard dressing. Meanwhile sculpturally shaped cascading bows referred back to the post-art deco context of the founder’s early days.

Walking with Rousteing through the house’s two-floor showroom, thronged with quick-changing models and headset-wearing, fast-talking sales representatives, we roamed from retro skiwear to new handbags to categories to come. This designer has lost none of his energy; his first decade at the label might yet prove to be only his amuse-bouche.

Pierre Balmain designed in earnest at his own house from the late 1940s to the late 1970s, a 30 year stint. Already over 10 years in, Rousteing would match the founder’s longevity—should he stay—when he hits his mid 50s in the early 2040s. You can see him doing it without Balmain’s clothes ever feeling old, while simultaneously always feeling connected with the history of a house that is extremely fortunate to have him.