Balmain Design DNA

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ISSUE FOUR

SEPT/OCT 2018

DISCOVERY

OLIVIER ROUSTEING

CULTURE

PERSON & ORGANISATION

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 culture 6 product 9 user 10

target group

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Influence

12 bibliography

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CULTURE Balmain is French fashion house founded by Pierre Balmain in 1945 in his studio at 44 rue françois in Paris, where Balmain’s headquarters are still located as today.

PERSON & ORGANISATION

Realizing that the economy is picking up again after the war and thus lavish parties coming back, Balmain mainly designed attention seeking evening wear as well as clothing, which was designated to make women look and feel good. Which left the practical garments of the war in the past.

Today Balmain is striving as ever, with its unique and young creative director Olivier Rousteing in charge, Balmain is becoming a globally known brand while staying true to its origins.

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PERSON & ORGANISATION

CULTURE

OLIVIER ROUSTEING

PRODUCT

AW16

AW17

SS18

PHYSICAL

PRODUCT

through very tight belts, Basques, strategically placed cut outs and prints, Balmain’s garments are structured to emphasize a very synched waist. The illusion of hour glass figures are furthermore created by accentuated hips and big shoulders.

WAIST

Asymmetric shapes and a clear cut between upper and lower body are often in Balmain collections. Geometric cut outs make garments semi sheer while a clean structure is maintained.

STRUCTURE

Balmain is known for its rigid embroidery. Studs, sequins, small metal elements and crystals, brought together to create unique designs.

DETAIL 7

PRODUCT

SYMBOLIC

Olivier himself describes wearers of Balmain as his Balmain army. Braiding found in the military worked into evening dresses, visualize the warrior symbolic.

Strategically placed buttons and embellishments remind of uniforms of the armed forces.

FUNCTIONAL & EMOTIONAL

USER

the clothing makes the user feel empowered, strong, confident and bold. The high quality make items long lasting and durable. Wearable workwear and sexy, feminine elements are merged in Balmain.

Sociologically, Olivier’s designs will make you feel luxurious and elite as well as accepted into the exclusive group of:

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#BALMAINARMY

TARGET GROUP Olivier designs for a woman in her late 20s, who is very independent, confident and financially stable enough to have disposable income to spend on luxury goods.

She values high craftmanship, follows celebrity activity very closely and is highly active on Social Media. She cherishes all cultures and likes the multicultural approach of Balmain.

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IMPACT ON DESIGN

INFLUENCE Through ever appearing celebrity placements and Olivier’s close relationships with them – a unique authenticity is established. Garments are placed straight from the runway on the most influential people of our age.

Starstudded Instagram posts, captioned Balmain Army, reach up to nearly 2 million likes.

Balmain is not only a social media giant but also influences the arts.

In 2017, Olivier designed ballet costumes for the Paris opera.

Kanye West’s music video for wolves was part of a Balmain campaign and a digital art piece.

BIBLIOGRAPHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMExuhY1fRA https://www.businessoffashion.com/fashion-week/2017aw/balmain/collection/all https://www.businessoffashion.com/fashion-week/ready-to-wear-spring-2018/balmain/collection/all https://www.businessoffashion.com/fashion-week/2016aw/balmain/collection/all https://www.businessoffashion.com/fashion-week/2017ss/balmain/collection/all https://medium.com/global-luxury-goods-management/attention-all-balmain-fans-77d7af689ffe https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/olivier-rousteing

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PERSON & ORGANISATION

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CULTURE

PAULINA JACOBSEN, ZUZANNA DYMUS, JOANA BERNANDES, BENITA ILGENSTEIN 14