Olivier Rousteing exits Balmain The end of a 14-year creative direction
Ending a very long creative direction of a full 14 years, Balmain announced today that creative director Olivier Rousteing has definitively left the brand. Rousteing, who assumed the role as far back as April 2011, has led the brand through a decade and a half that defined the brand's course. Through ups and downs, under his guidance, Balmain, founded in 1945, has become synonymous with an opulent and pop aesthetic, has collaborated with stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna, and has created legendary looks, the best of which is perhaps the sand dress that Tyla wore at the Met Gala a few years ago.
The president of Balmain and CEO of Mayhoola, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, expressed deep gratitude for Rousteing's legacy, and the same Rousteing, in a personal note, shared emotions of pride and gratitude: "I am immensely proud of what has been accomplished and I warmly thank my extraordinary team at Balmain, my adoptive family in a place that has been home for 14 years. A special thanks goes to Rachid Mohamed Rachid and Matteo Sgarbossa for their absolute trust and for entrusting me with this unique responsibility. Looking to the future and my next creative journey, I will forever cherish these precious moments in my heart".
Rousteing's work has fully completed the turnaround that, in 2005, had begun under Christophe Decarnin, who together with Alain Hivelin wanted to transform the august Parisian Maison de Couture into a contemporary and edgy brand, all based on glamour and the star system. Great merit of Rousteing has been to correct this course, moving away from Decarnin's rock furrow, and bringing the brand, with its new worldly and hedonistic spirit, towards directions decidedly closer to the spirit of the origins. His work has made the brand famous in Asia and his logoed t-shirts have also made it a commercial phenomenon. In the latest collections, Rousteing had given much more emphasis to technical virtuosity and camp, making several looks very popular, but also showing a certain creative fatigue. As legendary as it was, the brand had lost its relevance and traction in recent years, remaining on the margins of fashion discussions and debates.
While Balmain prepares for an evolution, the maison has anticipated that a new creative structure will be revealed shortly. Speculations on possible successors are already igniting the Parisian corridors, but it is clear that Rousteing's legacy, made of empowerment and innovation, will guide the brand into the future. In a 2025 marked by transitions (think of recent changes at Gucci and Saint Laurent), this farewell reminds us how fashion is a cycle of rebirths, where masters make room for new voices without extinguishing their light.
