The BalMAIN Attraction

The new era of fashion is looming its thread.  The French fashion house Balmain is patching the tear left by Christophe Decarnin’s departure.  Yesterday, the designer-less fashion house announced that former head of Balmain womenswear design Olivier Rousteing will be the label’s new head designer.  Despite original speculation that Melanie Ward; who was largely responsible for the Fall 2011 collection in lieu of Decarnin’s absence, would be the new head designer, Ward will not be working with the label in the future.

Olivier Rousteing work for Balmain Womenswear (www.independent.co.uk)

Before beginning with Balmain in 2009, Rousteing attended the Parisian fashion school ESMOD and worked at Roberto Cavalli for five years.  Other than that, the French born designer is not relatively known.  How unknown is he?  Well, I googled his picture in five different countries, and this the only picture available for him (he has one less picture than I do).

Olivier Rousteing (www.style.com)

Needless to say, this news alone will raise Rousteing’s status to the forefront of fashion before his first collection in the fall of this year.  His current anonymity, however, is exciting.  Vacancies in the world’s fashion houses are providing a chance for new and otherwise unknown designers to spark a well needed fashion revolution.  With any hope, this time next year we will no longer be living in “the decade with no definitive style.”