GAME ON: Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain, has really taken to gaming. The designer will boost Balmain’s presence within Kim Kardashian West’s mobile game, “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” after a successful launch in early December. He will become the first designer to create pieces expressly for the game, which include a fringed handbag and pair of earrings that, bundled together, retail for $14.99 or 105 K-stars (the game’s currency).
“The pieces are composed of opulent fabrics like velvet and fringe that recall design elements from the Fall 2015 RTW Balmain collection,” Rousteing said. While these products don’t current exist IRL, or in real life, it’s a possibility down the line.
Balmain’s integration in Kardashian West’s game – complete with women’s and men’s looks from Balmain’s fall 2015 collection and a cameo by Rousteing, naturally – saw 200,000 players owning at least one piece from the brand during its first month live. Additionally, the 2.2 million players who clicked through to Balmain.com show the marketing potential that gaming holds for brands.
“Hollywood,” part of Glu Mobile’s portfolio of games for players on the go, logged adjusted revenues of $132.4 million as of the end of September.