Tails and a Cinched Waist for Balmain Spring/Summer 2018

At the heart of the Opéra Garnier, at the center of the opulence of a past France, Olivier Rousteing brought his own exaggeration of the Balmain look down the runway. On a catwalk surrounded by the fastidious gold decor imagined by Charles Garnier for Napoleon Bonaparte, the Balmain Army put away their more ferocious pieces and gave way to a more Jolie Madame vibe. The companion booklet for the Spring/Summer 2018 runway pointed to the grandiose and highly symbolic sentiment of a child taking off from the French countryside to visit Paris for the first time. This child was Olivier Rousteing himself. At age 10, this boy from Bordeaux discovered Paris in all its magnificence for the very first time. Today, at age 32, he’s at the head of Balmain. For once, it’s the chic and sumptuous heritage of the founder Pierre that’s the connecting thread for his collection.

For Spring/Summer 2018, the Balmain look is ultra-glamorous with tails, jabots, and the iconic cinched waist on all the models, led by Natalia Vodianova who exceptionally opened the runway. This is the ideal get-up for a night out at the Opera, and the iconic look for next season honors these workshops’ savoir-faire. With difficultly contained enchantment, Olivier Rousteing is able to make this look the embodiment of the ecstasy that such a place evokes.

“Every time I come back to the Opéra Garnier, I feel the same wonder that I did 22 years ago when a young boy from Bordeaux discovered the capital and the Palais Garnier for the first time. That’s what I wanted to bring back through this collection.” The jabots spin, hems become jabots, and embroidered sequins burst forth with a glamour that’s rare these days. The attitude remains sexy though; the fit is very adjusted, with a gracious allure as well. Spring/Summer 2018 is bound to be a flamboyant one for Balmain.