Olivier Rousteing Exits Balmain After 14 Years of Bold Fashions and Blowout Events

by · WWD

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Updated 3:05 p.m. EST on Nov. 5

PARIS — Olivier Rousteing is stepping down as creative director of Balmain, closing a 14-year chapter marked by creative audacity and strong growth that also was among the longest creative tenures in fashion.

A pioneer in embracing and leveraging social media, the designer — who has 9.7 million followers on Instagram — opened his shows to the public, embraced technologies such as NFTs and linked the heritage house to pop culture while also putting diversity and inclusivity at the top of the industry agenda.

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Rousteing leveraged his online following, which he christened the Balmain Army, and close friendships with celebrities including Rihanna and Kim Kardashian into memorable campaigns and collections, including a special line he cocreated with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to coincide with the release of her “Renaissance” album.

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The designer also sparked trends beyond his fashions. To wit, the rather low-key Balmain Sur Seine event in 2020 when he sent a barge down the Paris river loaded with athletic dancers and singer Yseult, handily foreshadowing many key elements of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and sparking a trend to democratic, public-facing fashion spectacles.

His departure was announced by Balmain on Wednesday.

The designer’s plans could not be immediately learned and the house said a new creative organization would be revealed in due course.

“I am deeply proud of all that I’ve accomplished, and profoundly grateful to my exceptional team at Balmain, my chosen family, in a place that has been my home for the past 14 years,” Rousteing said in a statement.

He thanked Rachid Mohamed Rachid, chief executive officer of Balmain owner Mayhoola and chairman of Balmain, and the brand’s CEO Matteo Sgarbossa for “their unwavering belief in me and for entrusting me with this extraordinary opportunity. As I look ahead to the future and the next chapter of my creative journey, I will always hold this treasured time close to my heart.”

“Olivier’s visionary leadership has not only redefined the boundaries of fashion but also inspired a generation with bold creativity, unwavering authenticity and commitment to inclusivity,” Rachid said.

“We are immensely proud of all that has been achieved under his direction and look forward to seeing the next chapter of his journey unfold with the same brilliance and passion,” he added.

Sgarbossa expressed “deep gratitude” to the designer for his contribution to the house, which marked its 80th anniversary this year. “Olivier’s contribution and passion over the past years will leave an indelible mark in the history of fashion,” he said.

Bordeaux-born Rousteing, who briefly attended Paris’ ESMOD school, joined Balmain from Roberto Cavalli in 2009, initially tapped as head of the studio under then-creative director Christophe Decarnin.

“I was a Balmain baby — and now Balmain is my baby,” Rousteing said in 2021, as he marked his decade at the creative helm with a blowout event that featured musical performers, a retrospective of his designs and his spring 2022 collections for women and men.

In 2011, Rousteing made history when he was named creative director at the age of 25. Not only was he the youngest designer to step into such a role, but he was also the first Black womenswear designer at the helm of a French fashion house.

He went on shaped a transformative chapter for Balmain, catapulting it to new heights cultural relevance, heat, currency — and sales.

During his tenure, Rousteing spearheaded collaborations with the likes of Barbie, Disney, Evian, Netflix and Johnnie Walker, but the most famous was his high-low hookup with high street retailer H&M in 2015, which had a 99 percent sell-through. The designer considered it a career highlight.

When Mayhoola for Investment acquired a majority stake in the French company in 2016, then-CEO Emmanuel Diemoz credited Rousteing’s “optimistic” and va-va-voom designs and rabid social media following among factors that sped the transaction.

In September, Sgarbossa told WWD the level of brand perception eclipses Balmain’s size, which market sources estimate at around 300 million euros. It has 50 stores worldwide, of which 11 are shops-in-shop. Fifteen are in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 18 in Asia-Pacific and 17 in the U.S., its number-one market.

Beyond his glitzy celebrity connections, Rousteing has been open about his personal history.

In 2019, the designer, who was adopted at the age of 1, unveiled the poignant “Wonder Boy” documentary that followed him as he uncovered life-altering revelations on his birth parents, with the harsh personal consequences of France’s anonymous birth system as a backdrop.

Following a 2020 accident that left him with significant burn injuries, he shared a selfie of his upper body and head wrapped in bandages a year after a fireplace explosion at his Paris home, opening up about his recovery journey.