June 22, 2021: Don’t mistake Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing’s pajama-style for wanting to stay home any longer. The designer is very much ready to return to the world of in-person runway shows. Even when most designers went digital amid the coronavirus pandemic, Balmain hosted an IRL socially distanced haute couture show on a boat trekking down the picturesque Seine river. There was no invited audience, but that didn’t stop Parisians from admiring the event from their apartments.
On Monday, June 21, the French fashion house announced that they will not only return to an in-person runway but will do so in an exceptional way. The luxury label will host a two-day music festival starting September 28 to close out Paris Fashion Week. Its headliners? The Balmain Spring 2022 Men’s and Women’s collections. “It is impossible for me to imagine a creative moment or inspiration without thinking of its accompanying music,” Rousteing told WWD. His goal for the festival? “To reunite and experience once again the melding together of the beauty of friendship, the power of music, and the excitement of a Paris runway.”
Balmain will host the festival at The Seine Musicale in Paris, where access on day one (September 28) will be open to the public. For day two (September 29), the festival will offer two tickets to the first 1,200 people who pledge a minimum donation of €15 (approximately 30 USD) to (RED) and the Global Fund, which aid in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Limited-edition fashion merch will also be available with proceeds donated to (RED) and the Global Fund.
The actual runway show which Rousteing will host on the second day of the festival will admit up to 3,200 guests, including fashion industry leaders and fans alike. The event will be the second iteration of the Balmain Festival that Rousteing began in 2019. Although the lineup has yet to be confirmed, we can’t help but wonder if we’ll be graced with a Beyoncé moment, given that the two are BFFs. Now that would be a grandeur way to close out fashion week if I do say so myself.
Tickets are now available on Balmain’s website.
