Pierre Balmain is a French designer who realized the potential of the American market much earlier than his design peers and competitors.
He also focused on traditional elegance, preferring to make money as opposed to realizing a design vision (unlike Yves Saint Laurent, for example).
You can’t discuss the House of Balmain without mentioning two things:
- The iconic blazer
- Oscar de la Renta
Both of these were huge parts of Balmain’s success and had nothing to do with Pierre Balmain.
Pierre Balmain
- Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain was born in May 1914 in Saint-Jean-de-Morin, a small mountain village in the Savoy region of France.
His mother worked at Galeries Parisiennes, a haberdashery run by his two aunts and owned by Pierre’s father, Maurice Balmain, who had already inherited what was known as a very successful wholesale drapery business.
- If you read my Brief History of Dior, you already know that Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain worked with Christian Dior for Lucien Lelong in Paris, for the House of Lelong.
But Balmain worked for 11 years at various fashion houses between 1934 and 1945 after studying architecture for a year in Paris.
- As a child, Pierre spent a lot of time in the shop and unconsciously absorbed the idea of fashion by making and dressing paper dolls.
- Life should seem idyllic, but when his father dies suddenly, Pierre (then seven years old) and his mother find that instead of being rich, they have almost no money. The business had been failing for some time but had been kept secret by his father.
What was left was a chest full of theatrical costumes from his father’s amateur show days that were to have a huge impact on his son’s growing imagination.
- In 1925, at the age of 11, Pierre Balmain received a scholarship to a boarding school in Chambéry, where he made the most of the dancing, riding, and fencing on offer.
- At the end of his studies, Balmain, despite his youth, was from the city. he knew he wanted to work in fashion but decided to study architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris to appease her mother. As he suspected, studying architecture was not for him, and soon he decided to write to designers and apply for a part-time position. He soon met Lelong, Lanvin, and Molyneux, and it was Molyneux who gave him a part-time job.
- Balmain’s time at Molyneux was interrupted in 1936 when he was called up for military service, although he continued to work there until he was discharged.
Balmain was proud of what he had learned from Moulinex, whom he later called “this elegant and aloof Englishman who had the fashion world in the palm of his hand in the 1930s.”
- His next move was to Lucien Lelong, where he gained his first experience in practical design. It was in Lelong that Balmain met Christian Dior.
The two quickly became close, and Dior became so supportive of his colleague that when Balmain decided to open his own establishment, he asked Dior to partner with him.
At first, Dior was attracted to the idea. There was a lot of talking and planning, but in the end, Dior decided it wasn’t going to work. Feeling betrayed on both sides, they parted and hardly saw each other again.
It seems like an extreme reaction, but there was talk that the breakup would mean the breakup of a relationship that goes beyond business.
The composure impressed both men. Since Balmain was no longer with him, Dior was unhappy. But Balmain—much tougher and more driven at this point—could smell success. His first performance was held on October 12, 1945, in his salon at 1er Rue Francois. Despite its dark richness and almost entirely dark dominant colors, it was a huge success.
Balmain wanted to make money rather than surf; he was never interested in developing ideas in the way of Dior, Balenciaga, and Yves Saint Laurent. And unlike Dior and Balenciaga, who shunned even the top clients and had no social life at all, Balmain met all the right people and confirmed his status as an expert in society.
He had a good relationship with actors such as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and Sophia Loren, who was always best treated by Jeanette Spanier, the charismatic director, who valued everyone.
- In his autobiography, “Not All Weasels,” he describes how he often invited clients like Dietrich to his apartment and cooked them a nice meal.
- In early 1949, Balmain opened a boutique in New York, and two years later, in 1951, he launched a company in the city to offer products based on his couture.
Pierre Balmain has a place in the commercial history of French fashion. Along with Jacques Fête, he was one of the first Parisian fashion designers to see the potential of the American market.
But by the time of his death in 1982 (aged 68) from liver cancer at the American Hospital in Paris, Balmain was no longer seen as a strong player on the French fashion scene.
At the time, there were 130 manufacturers worldwide making more than 60 products under his name, including luggage, jewelry, and menswear.
However, it is fair to say that Balmain’s tailoring throughout his career and his approach to grand evening gowns were of the highest standard.
He worked at Robert Piguet, the House of Molyneux, and finally Lelong.
- Beginning his career as an independent designer, Pierre Balmain had the honor of having two highly respected intellectuals, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, attend his first post-war show. Austin wrote a piece about it called “From Darkness to Day” for Vogue. In it, he spoke of meeting Balmain during World War II and his friendship with him and his mother. He would bring them cotton spools from Paris to soak their socks in, and he would inevitably make their clothes.
As he said in the article, “I think at the opening, we were the only ones wearing Pierre Balmain in all those long years.” We were proud of it—very happy and proud. “Yes, we were.”Since then, the name Balmain has become synonymous with Paris fashion.
- Most designers of the time (e.g., Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, and Balenciaga) focused on the French market and wanted to preserve French style by focusing on dressing French women. Balmain was one of the first designers to see and understand the potential of the American market. But as a result, he was not seen as a strong competitor in the French market compared to other Parisian designers.
Balmain has often been overlooked by other French designers, but the brand’s longevity is a testament to his smart business sense as well as his desirable designs.
- Despite selling the Balmain fragrance business to Revlon in 1960, Pierre Balmain remained the owner and chief designer of Maison Balmain until his death in 1982.
Founder of Maison Balmain
In 1945, Balmain founded Maison Balmain as a clothing house. With its emphasis on high quality and evening wear, the House of Balmain was a huge success.
Like Dior, Balmain’s previous success at other fashion houses no doubt prepared him for success on his own.
What sets Balmain apart is the equal balance between design and money; if not balanced, then focus on the money. After all, a fashion house is a business and a profitable one as well.
His first designs emphasized impeccable craftsmanship and luxurious construction.
But alongside her fashion brand, she had a lucrative sideline in fragrances.
This focus on his craftsmanship and quality can be seen today in his famous Balmain blazers. But when Pierre Balmain was designing, the focus was on typical evening wear.
He entered the American market in 1953 and presented his collections under the name Julie Madame.
Other French designers of his time would have seen such an extension as contemptible, but eventually, it was something that all Parisian fashion houses would follow. There was this pretentious sense of French women’s dressing, but Balmain ignored it, leaving him severely undervalued by his competitors.
Symbolic style
Balmain’s work was characterized by a focus on construction and elegance. This emphasis can still be seen today in their iconic design, the Balmain blazer.
Obviously, the blazer has been a fashion staple for the past century, but the classic Balmain blazer was actually created in the 2000s to complement Pierre’s classic eveningwear design.
The blazer became an evening dress. Thus, the classic blazer was not a product of Pierre’s designs but an item created to complement his archive.
Today, a Balmain blazer costs between £1,575 and £4,650.
Personally, whenever I think of Balmain, I think of the iconic blazer. which is ironic in itself since it wasn’t a Balmain product, but if history tells us anything, it’s that the Balmain blazer is here to stay.
Oscar Della Renta
After the death of Balmain in 1983, the company again bought the perfume business from Revlon.
However, Balmain became involved in excessive licensing deals, mainly with the Balmain name, which only served to weaken the brand’s image.
Potentially, despite Balmain’s focus on money over authenticity or “wavesh the Balmain name, which only served to weaken the brand’s image. Potentially, despite Balmain’s focus on money over authenticity or “waves,” he has always balanced maintaining his image, which is of course linked to making money. It can be argued that his predecessors did not maintain this balance.
11 years later, Oscar de la Renta became the main designer at Maison Balmain.
In general, critics agree that he revived the house’s reputation and reignited its commercial success. Returning to his traditional reputation for elegance, de la Renta remained at Balmain for nine years, presenting his last collection in July 2002.
To conclude, Pierre Balmain was primarily an artist who focused on his commercial acumen.
He made moves that were incredibly ahead of his time as a Parisian fashion house entering the American market. Unfortunately, after his death, excessive licensing weakened the brand, but with the success of Oscar de la Renta as head designer, he served to restore the house of Balmain to its former glory.
Balmain today and Oliver Rousteing
Olivier Rousteing, who was appointed head of Balmain in 2011 at the age of 24, was the youngest creative director in Paris after Yves Saint Laurent. Known for her engagement with social media, the designer has mastered the art of catering to the digital generation.
The steep career path of the French designer was paved with opportunities. Starting out as an orphan in Bordeaux, he was soon adopted and studied at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode in Paris.
Graduating in 2003, he began his career as a designer at Roberto Cavalli and quickly rose through the ranks to become head of the brand’s womenswear division. Rousteing was hired by Balmain as a womenswear designer in 2009 and worked closely with then-creative director Christophe Decarnin, who became something of a mentor to him.
When DeCarnin stepped down in April 2011, Rousting was appointed as his successor.
Balmain’s then-chairman and majority owner, Alain Hevlin, who died at the end of 2014, was responsible for the rapid rise of the relatively unknown patron Decarnin.
Today, Rousteing is at the forefront of the brand, which has become a well-known red carpet icon.
Rousteing is leading its digital revival under CEO Massimo Pimbini, who was appointed in 2017 after buying a majority stake in Mayhoola for an investment a year earlier.
Born into an internet-savvy generation, Rousteing was one of the pioneers of Instagram marketing, with his “Balmain Army” of influencers dressed in the brand’s signature military style.
The collection includes a force of strong, internationally renowned women and popular virtual influencers, including Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian West, and computer models Margot, Shudu, and Zhi, each of whom has amassed a significant following on the platform.
Routeing’s flair for digital inspired a Balmain-themed Snapchat selfie filter and the Balmain app in 2019, with its digital flagship store opened in partnership with Yoox, Net-a-Porter Group, and luxury e-commerce platform Mazarine. Balmain is also one of the first brands to join Instagram’s new shopping feature in 2019.
The French designer is also a strong advocate for diversity in the fashion industry, a slogan that resonates well with her international clientele.
Rousteing himself has inspired a number of aspiring designers who, until recently, lacked a successful hybrid role model.
He also spoke to this cause in his Spring/Summer 2019 campaign, featuring Cara Delevingne in a tribute to Janet Jackson’s album artwork for Janet, which conceptualizes the union between white and black skin.
In May 2017, Balmain and L’Oréal Paris collaborated on a collection of lipsticks that she designed. He cited the partnership as an opportunity to make Balmain accessible to a wider audience. For the 2018 edition of Coachella, Beyoncé commissioned Rousteing to create three couture pieces for her performance.
The designer has also revived Balmain’s reputation, launching a capsule collection of Atelier pieces in 2018 and holding a spring 2019 couture show in Paris, 16 years after the brand took the scene by storm.
Oliver and the fire
The Balmain designer reveals he was involved in a fireplace explosion a year ago that left him with severe burns—and why he decided to keep it a secret until now.
Olivier Rousteing, who recently celebrated 10 years at the helm of the Paris-based fashion company, concluded that he is “finally (feeling) ready to deal with what happened to him a year ago after the fireplace in his Paris home exploded.” put forward
He has been recovering privately. His face and body are bandaged and covered with scars.
“I’ve been hiding this for a long time, and it’s time for you to know,” she explained in her Instagram post. “I did everything to hide this story from as many people as possible and tried to keep it a secret for a long time with my team and friends.
To be honest, I’m not really sure why I was so ashamed; maybe it was my obsession with perfection. “My fashion is known for my insecurities.”
Rousteing recently appeared on stage at the end of his Paris Fashion Week show on September 29, where he was greeted with applause from models and the audience.
Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, and Jonathan Van Ness were among the stars who expressed love and support in the comments section of Routeing’s post.
Here is the photo and the comment below it:
a year ago
I finally feel ready to share this. I’ve been hiding this for a long time, and it’s time for you to know.
Exactly one year ago, the fireplace inside my house exploded.
I woke up the next morning in Saint Louis Hospital in Paris. The talented staff at that famous hospital, which was dealing with an incredible number of COVID cases at the time, took amazing care of me. I can’t thank them enough.
I did everything to hide this story from as many people as possible and tried to keep the secret for a long time with my teams and friends.
Honestly, I’m not really sure why I was so embarrassed; maybe the perfection obsession that fashion is known for and my own insecurities…
As I recovered, I just worked days and nights to forget and create all my collections; I tried to keep the world in a dream with my collections, and at the same time I covered the scars with face masks, turtlenecks, and long sleeves. and even hide multiple rings on all my fingers.
And I really realized that the power of social media is that it only reveals what you want to show!
It allows us to construct our own narrative, avoiding what we don’t want to see or show: this is our new world.
Now, a year later, she is healed, happy, and healthy.
I realize how truly blessed I am and thank God every day of my life.
My last show was about celebrating the healing of pain and saying thank you to all the models, my team productions, my Balmain family models, and my friends who came and supported not only 10 years of Balmain but my rebirth.
Today I feel very free, very good, and very lucky. I start a new chapter with a smile on my face and a heart full of gratitude.
To the doctors and nurses in St. Louis and to all who helped me and kept my secret during this long recovery: a deep thank you. I love you.
God bless you all, and never give up again! The sun is always after the storm.
