Presenting his first Balmain collection since taking over from Christophe Decarnin, Olivier Rousteing‘s wild west cowboy inspired collection was a bold leap to take and present in Paris. Gold featured heavily in the collection in the form of large buckle belts, embroidery and leather laser cut detail on jackets and dresses and also as accessories in the form of chunky leather and gold cuffs. Despite all the bling, the collection did not feel over done. Rousteing’s clever pairing of gold and white for evening, or washed out denim and white for day, made the pieces modern and combined with the intricate embroidery and leather cut outs, reminiscent of haut couture ball gowns.
From a crisp white shirt with gold button detail matched with pale blue damask print pants, to a casual white top and denim maxi skirt combination to a white and gold leather embroidered mini dress with fringe detail on the arms, the collection was incredibly wearable, picking up on the key trends of faded denim and white for the season, but also making it possible to take the pieces from day to night. Our pick of the collection? It is hard to chose from the incredible white dress with black leather cut-out detail, to the floral print and white mini dress with gold rivet detail to a black white and gold dress with plunging neck line and tribal print.
Watch a video of the Balmain Spring/Summer 2012 show here.
