For his debut men’s wear show for Balmain, Olivier Rousteing prepped like a prize fighter for the ring.
He kicked off proceedings with the hardcore techno track “Prepare for Glory.” He tapped the world’s most successful male model, Sean O’Pry, to open and close the show. And he stacked the catwalk with bombshell beauties like Alessandra Ambrosio, decked in women’s resort.
For inspiration, Rousteing looked to the great adventurers of the early 20th century — but this was safari on steroids.
Leather jackets were intricately latticed and laced, while a tobacco-hued explorer suit came spliced with a double-breasted jacket with gold buttons. In a nod to hip-hop culture, butter-soft suede was draped into a cowl-necked vest and slouchy drop-crotched pants, while a black sweatshirt glistened with a web of gold hardware.
Rousteing plastered his signature gold crests, some featuring a lion’s head or a Union Jack flag, on jackets, including a tiger-striped ponyskin bomber with black leather sleeves, and a trim black blazer with satin lapels — the latter modeled by socialite Peter Brant, whose younger brother, Harry, also walked in the show.
It was the ultimate in his ‘n’ hers dressing — think Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in the label’s spring men’s campaign.
“The Balmain name has been known thanks to the woman,” Rousteing said backstage, though he noted that men’s wear accounts for a respectable 40 percent of the business. “I have a chance with my brand, it’s that my woman and my man can actually buy their clothes together.”