Its been 16 years since the Parisian fashion house Balmain bowed out of the couture calendar only to return with amazing designs in Paris yesterday January 23. Olivier Rousteing who took over the creative directorship of the house nearly nine years ago ushered in a new life as he revives the couture arm of the fashion empire that has laid dormant for years. Olivier who explained the idea behind the collection at its special preview of the collection said that he sees his haute couture as a bridge between the Balmain of the past and that of today.
He added that: “Of course, the house is known for being edgy and sexy and glamorous. Here, it’s all about bringing back Balmain to the elegance of la France. Everything you see will give the sense that it’s taken from the ideas of Mr. Balmain.” The 33-year-old designer who took over the helm of affairs after Christope Decarnin’s sudden departure in 2011, when he was just 25 has gone ahead to grow the atelier to become a celebrity and social media go-to place. Boasting of Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Michelle Obama, Rihanna, and nearly every member of the Kardashian-Jenner-West clan as its loyal clients. 
According to a review of the show by Vogue, it was noted that: “…the revival of the maison’s haute couture atelier must have been his pearl; a rare and valuable manifestation of beauty, its iridescent nacre akin to layers of workmanship. And so it’s not for nothing that pearls played a central part in his first couture collection. 
Right from the start, they appeared as giant Balmain-emblazoned orbs encircling wrists and carried in hand; they were the obvious reference for bulbous skirts molded in leather, and they were applied in bounteous quantities to lattices of ornamentation from suits to jeans. They were the only reasonable explanation for models’ filmy white makeup”. 
