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Come September, beauty anarchy will ensue. This is the month marked for the release of the highly anticipated Balmain Paris x L’Oréal Paris Capsule Collection, which debuts at Paris Fashion Week in a welcome collision of couture and beauty.
Today, via Instagram, the first look at the campaign was unveiled, and in keeping with the brand’s strong aesthetic, the Balmain Army lives on – now slicked with the 12 lipsticks from the eponymous collection. Most striking however, is the strong feminist and culturally diverse sentiment: with models of varied ethnicity, along with Olivier Rousteing himself, charging forth full of temerity and strength. Balmain’s prodigious son has made no secret of his viewpoint on race and female empowerment. Rousteing, of mixed race who was adopted at the age of one, never saw himself “as black or as white,” he told Out, “just human”. “When I was 11, I didn’t realise my [adoptive] parents were white. My parents taught me when you are their child they love you. People in school told me, ‘You are a bastard. You are black, and your parents are white.’ I didn’t know there was a problem.” His stance on diversity has been present in most Balmain dialogues since his tenure, and his new L’Oréal Paris collaboration is no exception (which he oversaw the creative direction of hues, design and ad campaign).
Credit: Instagram, @balmain
Lensed by Nico Bustos, his new Balmain Army — including Lara Stone, Neelam Gill, Alexina Graham, Ysaunny Brito, Soo Joo Park, Doutzen Kroes — embody this, a beautifully cultural culmination of different origins and backgrounds. In a joint statement, the Parisian brands declared the casting decision was a deliberate one, to reflect the “three tribes of L’Oréal Paris and Balmain Paris femininity,” and in turn send “a message of beauty in diversity and female empowerment.”
And what better way than through the cult classic Color Riche (one is sold every three seconds) and Rousteing’s strong and mighty women. As Rousteing notes:
“No matter your origin, no matter your tribe. Come together, be seen, be heard. United, we are invincible. Because we are all worth it.”
Troops of our own heart, bring on this beauty war.
Credit: Instagram, @balmain
