Balmain Men’s Spring 2024

Miles Socha
·1 min read

European designers are tiptoeing back into foreign territory and referencing Asian, African and Latin American cultures in broad, often blurred ways that fall short of specific cultural appropriation.

In Milan, Marco De Vincenzo did so at Etro, and Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta, to winning effect.

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Now Olivier Rousteing took founder Pierre Balmain’s early adventures in Asia as a jumping-off point for his spring 2024 menswear collection, staged at the house’s historic boutique at 44 Rue François 1er.

“What is interesting is to see all the cultures together,” he said.

Rousteing settled on souvenir jackets that hail from Vietnam, South Korea and Japan: not so contentious, and an ideal canvas for exuberant and flashy embellishments. Cue 3D golden dragon embroideries on a black blouson, or colorful kite motifs swarming on a varsity jacket with a big logo on one sleeve.

The models looked like rock stars in their narrow, satin pants that flared out over high-heeled cowboy boots with Space Age heels. They carried tote bags and small weekenders shaped like boom boxes and amplifiers, the handles dangling guitar jacks.

Rousteing also reprised a swallow motif — a good-luck symbol for the founder — that looked terrific picked out in sparkling or jet-bead embroideries on sharply tailored blazers or topcoats.

And he introduced a bulbous shoe that in white made one think of Smurfs. Rousteing prefers to think of them as clouds for the feet.

Launch Gallery: Balmain Men's Spring 2024

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