If you were paying attention to the runways during Paris Fashion Week, you without a doubt saw Olivier Rousteing’s extravagant 10th Anniversary Balmain Show. A parade of supers, a heartfelt note from Beyoncé, and a performance by Doja Cat all came together for a night to celebrate the talented designer with an enormous fashion festival. But did you expect the party to end there? Naturally, in true Olivier fashion, the party keeps going.
Continuing the amazing ten years at the helm of the 75-year-old luxury fashion house celebration, Olivier has announced a partnership with Z2 Comics. The American publisher is known for creating graphic novels in the music world, with top-tier artists, like Blondie, Elvis Presley, Gorillaz, and Machine Gun Kelly. So with music being a staple of Rousteing’s collections, it just made all the sense that the duo would come together on a very special novel. But the young creative director didn’t merely partner with the publisher, he dived deep into the archives of Balmain to celebrate the entire history of the luxury house and its most iconic designs since its origins.
“Balmain has long relied on telling stories in new and daring ways, ever since Pierre Balmain showed his first collection in 1945,” says Olivier in a statement shared with GRAZIA. “And I am determined to continue to build upon that unique heritage. That is why I am so thrilled to see our designs inspiring some of today’s most talented graphic storytellers. Each creation my team and I put forth every season has an inspiration behind it—and I love seeing how those ideas and visions have been used to imaginatively construct some very compelling adventures.”
Each chapter starts with a beautifully illustrated image of an iconic Balmain look over the years—including THAT Justin Bieber MET Gala look from 2015. Instead of simply telling a tale of the looks, each series comes together in an alt fantasy dreamscape version of the inspiration behind the signature look. For the super Balmain and comic fans out there, a special edition wrapped in pure silver will be auctioned off on an undisclosed later date. Still, for now, you can snag your copy of the limited edition Balmain Dreams: 10 OR now available directly at Balmain-Book.comBalmain-Book.com
