It’s been almost four years since Olivier Rousteing presented a Balmain men’s show. Now it is back in force during the autumn-winter 2024-2025 men’s fashion, on January 20, 2024 in Paris. As usual, the artistic director remains a thousand miles away quiet luxury and prefers to push the volume of maximalism, with lots of vibrant colors, exaggerated shoulders over fitted waists, trompe l’oeil and spectacular embroidery and jewels.
Surrealism, optical art and African sapology at the Balmain fashion show
Several recurring motifs run through this Balmain autumn-winter 2024-2025 collection that play on the succession of steps to deliberately present repetitions with always at least a slight variation. Starting from the anatomy of a female face, of look 1, embroidered in huge colored crystals to compose the blue eyes and crimson lipstick. The next step consists of a tight black turtleneck sweater, studded with crystals positioned to form an oversized eye, with wide trousers and a waist marked by a cummerbund (wide sash, usually made of satin). The third pass then just picks up the crystal-encrusted mouth on a crewneck sweater, etc.
This type of variation on the same theme runs throughout the show until the arrival of a vibrant color palette inspired by Congolese sappers according to the note of intent for this Balmain autumn-winter 2024-2025 men’s show. In fact, Olivier Rousteing says he was inspired by the SAPE (Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People) movement of African dandies (which singer Solange presents in her clip “Losing You” if you don’t know).
And it is no longer a face that is encrusted on the clothes, but black silhouettes, in profile or from behind, accompanied by polka dot or striped prints for a further op-art (optical art is an artistic movement around optical illusions very present in the 1960s). For passage 37, a man walks in an orange suit with three black silhouettes wearing blue fabric, before passage 38 is revealed to consist of three men in orange suits wearing blue fabric, creating a mesmerizing mise en abyme effect. These hyperchromatic passages actually correspond to the photos of the great Ghanaian photographer Prince Gyasi who accepted this surprising collaboration with Balmain.
Finally, the previous passages recall the sobriety of black, white and camel, to make me shine with the golden details, which include jewellery, such as bicep bracelets, a bracelet, or a chemise in gold, you want a manteau tout entire. Special mention to the impressive track 51, where a cutout in a black turtleneck sweater serves to better highlight the oversized gold embroidery of an eyebrow, eyelashes, pupil and an iris (while the negative space becomes the white of the eye or sclera).
Did Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain plagiarize Sarah Diouf’s African brand Tongoro Studio?
But since this Balmain autumn-winter 2024-2025 collection by Olivier Rousteing clearly invites us to open our eyes, we cannot help but notice the presence of a jewel on the head that highlights the profile of the face with a gold thread . This piece is very reminiscent of the one created in May 2019 by Senegalese designer Sarah Diouf for her brand Tongoro Studio, inspired by the male makeup of the Woodabe tribe. Characters like Beyoncé (in her music video “ Spirit “), Alicia Keys and even Naomi Campbell have already worn it (ironically, the latter closed Balmain’s autumn-winter 2024-2025 men’s show). This is what the young designer Sarah Diouf of the brand wears Tongoro Studio to ask questions on his Instagram account on January 21, 2024:
“The visible similarity of the garment presented by Olivier Rousteing for his Balmain autumn-winter 2024-2025 collection with ours is a difficult and painful event, once again calling into question the real vision that Western brands claim to have towards of African creativity while openly declaring that he is “inspired” by it. …How much time remains? »
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
