Balmain Is the Latest Fashion House to Debut a Brand New Logo

Olivier Rousteing has joined the long list of creative directors who have revamped a legacy fashion house's branding.

Balmain's Olivier Rousteing is the latest creative director to revamp a legacy fashion house's branding, with a new logo that was revealed on Tuesday.

"Having been the Creative Director of this house for eight years, I'm not about to tear down traditions or break rules simply for the sake of breaking them," said Rousteing in an official statement. "But times do change. Balmain is now a fast-growing brand relying on new media to communicate to a global audience. To best meet the challenges and opportunities of today, we unveil a newly updated logo for Balmain Paris."

Balmain's updated logo — a more minimal font designed by Adulte Adulte, according to Business of Fashion — is joined by a brand new monogram: A capital "B" with an additional stroke, representing the letter "P" for both the house's founder Pierre Balmain and its headquarters in Paris.

"This new B, echoing some of Pierre Balmain's mid-century monogram designs, works well for patterns and adornments for the house's many collections," says Rousteing, who already applied the new look on his Pre-Fall 2019 collection. "My team and I look forward to exploring new ways to incorporate it into future designs."

The fresh aesthetic, described by Rousteing as "a contemporary, clean and bold logo for this historic house," follows a string of iconic fashion logos that recently received a modern-day, sans-serif makeover — and that all look conspicuously similar. Riccardo Tisci updated Burberry's branding this summer, along with Hedi Slimane's overhaul of Celine's logo just in time for fashion month; Demna Gvasalia redid Balenciaga's logo last year, as well as Calvin Klein by Raf Simons and Diane von Furstenberg by Jonathan Saunders.

Balmain's new logo and monogram are just one part of Chief Executive Massimo Piombini's big plan to turn the French luxury brand into a billion-dollar business. So far, Balmain has introduced handbags, closed its diffusion line, updated its pricing and relaunched couture, which can potentially be very lucrative among its millennial customers. BoF also reports that a cosmetics range is in the works, and there are plans to open more stores.

Click through the gallery below to see the Balmain's Pre-Fall 2019 collection in full.

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