Vogue reported, of this collection:
This was the first time in 13 years at Balmain that Olivier Rousteing dedicated a full collection to his childhood home of Bordeaux. It was also in many ways a love-note to Lydia Rousteing, his adoptive mother, who along with husband Bruno-Jean raised the young designer there until he left the city to study fashion in Paris (before rapidly leaving Paris to work for Roberto Cavalli). “My mom came here today and she loved the looks,” he reported backstage pre-show. “And she reminded me of memories from being a kid. She was always wearing a trench—you know, really French—and we would go on a picnic and throw a gingham blanket on the grass.” If last month’s menswear show sprang from Rousteing’s African heritage, this womenswear sequel spoke to his identity as a Bordelais.
That’s so interesting to me. (There are more interesting details over at Vogue.) While clothes need, of course, to stand on their own, I do wish we’d get more background like this from people more often, instead of them being like, “obviously I’m inspired by THE TRANSIENCE of EXISTENCE.”
NOW updated with all the actual photos, I do not know what happened here.
