Balmain catwalk show report | PFW S/S 2016

Ecclesiastical music soon becomes modernistic and the lights rise to illuminate an orange Suede outfit, accessorised with gold and soon followed by emerald greens and a lot more suede. This year is Olivier Rousteing’s year.

 

Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, is one of the industry’s hottest names at the moment. His youth and background at Roberto Cavalli, seems to be working wonders, with next month seeing the Balmain X H&M hit stores. But it was Balmain’s SS16 collection which excited the fashionable following.

 

Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, were but some of the shows highly anticipated models and consequently, all are part of the #BalmainArmy, that which have assembled for the Balmain X H&M collaboration, but it was Caroline Ribeiro who opened the show. The colours were vivd, initially at least, beginning with a soft but strong orange. Soon, green and black began to bleed effortlessly into the collection, firstly with minor accessories and details, before becoming fully integrated into the collection. Then browns, black, blue and white dominated the looks. The colours were still within a tight palette, as were the menagerie of garment styles.

The seventies is the era that comes to mind, especially with the vast elements of suede, but Spring/Summer is definitely on the cards. Billowing tiered flounces aside, the collection was that of structure. High necks, pencil skirts, and tight pants were all sharply and cleanly cut. Ruffles and flounces were anything but dainty and instead, were robust and alluring. Midriffs were out and transparency added an element of sex appeal, as did anything skin-tight, but nothing was raunchy nor distasteful. Rousteing may still be within the early years of Balmain, having served as creative director since 2011, but the legacy in which he has begun to set out, is already a great one. 

Marianna Michael
Photos: Ambra Vernuccio