Balmain, Christophe Decarnin parting ways

[ultramarine]

Ive always been a fan of Ward .. and that menswear collection hit a chord with me.

Hum .. I love the comments posted on this page the most, very smart and interesting critique

 

[Emmanuel]

And an official confirmation, courtesy of Fashionologie:

As suggested last week, Olivier Rousteing, a key deputy of Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, was just confirmed as the house's new designer. He will supervise the design and development of both men's and women's ready-to-wear collections.
According to the press release, Rousteing had been in charge of Balmain's womenswear studio since 2009 and previously spent five years at Roberto Cavalli, where he was promoted to designer of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear collections. He is French-born, was raised in Bordeaux, and completed his fashion studies at ESMOD in Paris in 2003.

In other news, here is what Karl Lagerfeld had to say about Balmain in his W interview:

What about Balmain?

Forget about it! This was a job done by a fashion editor. I don’t even know the name of the man who did it, so don’t ask me about that.

Interesting...Was it really Emmanuelle Alt "doing it all", all along ?

 

[Chanelcouture09]

^I agree with Lagerfeld's statement 100 per cent, Emmanuelle did a large proportion of the job IMHO.

 

[Hebden]

^ Does he not have a photo on LinkedIn?

Here's one...

Pic: purpleDIARY.com

 

[ChrissyM]

he's pretty... looks more like a model than a designer

 

[agee]

I can tell that he is an excellent designer and I know already that his collections for Balmain will be amazing!

 

[Psylocke]

Phew, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's too distracted by his good looks to make a useful comment on this

 

[Salvatore]

Excited to see how he will do as the head without Decarnin. Interesting !

 

[Junee]

Psylocke I'm very distracted by his attractiveness as well....
I'm excited to see his vision for Balmain and of course his Finale walk just to get a glimpse of him...hehehehehe!

 

[helterskelter]

i'm sad to see chistophe leave, but i think it's for the best and it's time for a new post-balmainia era...i'm excited to see what direction olivier will take the brand!
and karl's remark in W was interesting...was emmanuelle really behind it all along? i could definately see that

 

[Wolkfolk]

He really looks handsome, but he has a lot to do to make the Balmain interesting again. And attractive or not, if he simply repeats what Christophe was already repeating every season I will not be gentle with him.

 

[Junee]

He really looks handsome, but he has a lot to do to make the Balmain interesting again. And attractive or not, if he simply repeats what Christophe was already repeating every season I will not be gentle with him.

I feel you on that bc I already felt that Christophe was using ths ame formula season after season..So if he does continue the Decarnin recipe I'll give him hell too!

 

[thejarc]

He was the Atelier Director since 2009 so I guess his vision of the brand is similar to Christophe's.

 

[purplethistle]

Psylocke I'm very distracted by his attractiveness as well....
I'm excited to see his vision for Balmain and of course his Finale walk just to get a glimpse of him...hehehehehe!

I was just thinking that even if a collection was a bit lacklustre all would probably be good once he pops out at the end of the finale walk

 

[mikeijames]

well, i think fashion may have a new darling. that olivier.

 

[CrisGalaxy]

Is he like the first black designer to be the creative director of a major fashion house? he looks kinda mixed too...

 

[UrMom]

Is he like the first black designer to be the creative director of a major fashion house? he looks kinda mixed too...

I was wondering that too. I believe so though. Whether he is or not though, its still huge because the further you go up in the fashion industry, the less diversity you see! I look forward to seeing what he is going to bring to the table! And he does look like a model

 

[tricotineacetat]

well, i think fashion may have a new darling. that olivier.

As much as I value your often well-articulated point of views, I find it rather surprising (and indeed, also confusing) that you think of speaking for 'the' fashion insider's general opinion.

I guess the overall sentiments in the press have so far been rather reserved on judging the replacement decision at Balmain and it would be wise to let the guy show his first official solo outing for the house before calling him 'the fashion scene's new darling' based on the fact that a single flattering picture was issued to the press.

 

[style_expert]

Honestly, I'm kind of excited to see what Melanie Ward will do with a Cavalli trained designer.

Melanie is leaving too. She's not going to work with the new designer.

 

[thejarc]

Melanie is leaving too. She's not going to work with the new designer.

Can't recall reading it anywhere. How do you know it?