Well, speaking of that...Pierre Balmain did evening wear, but sure as hell never ever rock chic (hate that term). And Erik Mortensen, you know, who was head designer for Balmain for 10 years (1982-1992), he never did clothing for drug addicts look-a-likes either. He was from my town BTW...
Balmain used to be pretty much about fancy evening wear. And now it looks...well, not very expensive or even glamorous.
I think your analysis is essentially right The Ida. This season, as others have observed, Decarnin has to a large extent taken out the glam. Where were the sequins and the shine. He left us with rock chicks without any glamour.
This season's thread is fairly similar to last season's - some people moan, it's all just the same; others moan it's changed I don't like it. Both positions have an element of correctness. As with any house there's continuity and there's change. Probably those with the sharper, more studied eye will emphasise the changes.
I decided to carry out a potted analysis of what Decarnin's done with the brand since he took over as follows -
Season (Total no. of looks) RedCarpet Cocktail SmartGlam SmartGlamPunk GlamPunk Punk
SS07 (30) 0 4 12 9 6 0
AW07 (30) 2 10 11 7 0 0
SS08 (34) (6) 2 10 6 8 2
AW08 (39) 4 4 10 8 13 1
SS09 (38) 6 5 3 18 5 1
AW09 (45) 4 0 15 15 11 0
SS10 (38) 0 0 4 4 24 5
AW10 (36) 3 0 (smart1) 18 9 5 0
SS11 (32) 0 0 0 4 9 19
So you can see he's gradually eroded away the eveningwear (lost the 'lady', lost The Ida).
The last 4 or 5 seasons he's lost the smart, less neat tailoring, in springsummer collections, returning to a smarter aesthetic for autumnwinter.
He's got increasingly punky and if you look at the weighty numbers over on the right hand side you see that in SS10 they lost the smart and now in SS11they lost the glam. 'My Way' Decarnin says. Yes, this season, the Balmain girl is in the image Decarnin himself presents more than ever before. A gradual process but now, as The Ida says, it's all Decarnin and no Balmain history.
But whilst you might bemoan that process, The Ida, it's perhaps a little empty to do so. Historic Balmain was a dead brand. Now it's a cash cow.
That I've reduced Balmain to a set of numbers is on point. In discussing Balmain we can shed the language of fashion design in favour of the language of business.
The trajectory of the brand is no accident. They sell a lot so they know what sells. Although it would be interesting to see the figures for AW10/11. For me SS10 is the quintessential Balmain. Aesthetically I found AW10/11 awful. It had lost it's punky edge and in many places felt too costumey like a bad rendition of 80's fancy dress someplace between a late Adam Ant and Prince.
Did AW10/11 sell less well. I don't know.
And one just wonders if success has gone to Christophe's head. It's easily done. He thinks he can do what he wants now. Sometimes that's the tipping point between Cash Cow and Dog.
And I think of what Jack and Lazarus said this season. How a skinny jean and ripped t-shirt look is so tired, so done now that it's just not edgy any more. In fashion nothing lasts for ever.
It seems to me the core of the New Balmain's success has been that easy combination of the high gloss sequin and shine sexy glamour with the rocky edge. And sometime back to sometimes throw in a tailored jacket on top.
Yes, the combination, the fusion. To leave essentially only the punked up rock chick loses something because it goes one dimensional and as so many have said you can do this look yourself, authentically, for a price with 1 '0' on the end not 3. So now we might just snigger to ourselves if we see someone sporting SS11 Balmain - stupid label wh*re.
And back to business. I don't know if Balmain is a private company, I think it is, but were it possible to trade the shares I'd have been a seller last season and a seller this.
It seems evident that for AW11/12 they'll go back smarter again in some guise or other. SS12 will be the interesting one. Do they put the shine back in as per SS10 or keep it low rent rock chick as SS11. I think it could turn out to be a battle between the bean counters and Decarnin's ego.
High point over. Cash cow to Dog. Sell, sell, sell.
