After a four-year-long hiatus from the menswear collections, the creative mind behind Balmain, Olivier Rousteing, recently took center stage at Paris Fashion Week. For his much-awaited Fall/Winter 2024 collection, Rousteing paid homage to Congolese Sapeurs and their revered fashion subculture, La Sape — short for La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes.This term literally translates to “Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People.” A heartfelt homage to African culture, the collection celebrates the dandies of Kinshasa and Brazzaville with a flamboyant show bursting with gold, exquisitely tailored silhouettes, and a kaleidoscope of colors.
When Rousteing was appointed creative director of Balmain in 2011 at the age of 25, he became one of the youngest creative directors in Paris and the first black man to head a fashion house of this caliber. Drawing inspiration from the ‘80s, Rousteing amplified Balmain’s signature style by embracing a more-is-more philosophy. Under his direction, the collections combined flashiness with strong silhouettes, streetwear elements with exceptional craftsmanship, many designs featuring intricate embroidery, military-inspired details, and quilted leathers. Above all, Rousteing has positioned Balmain as a major player in the era of social media, using celebrity endorsements and influencer collabs to increase the brand’s visibility.
Set to the pulsating beats of African trap music, Balmain’s Fall/Winter 2024 show saw the models (almost all diverse and predominantly black) flaunt their elegance in highly graphic pieces that revisit the classics of La Sape. The dandies imagined by Rousteing are adorned in polka-dots, lavish embroideries, and lip-shaped symbols. Such motifs are found throughout the collection, which delivers a series of repetitions with subtle variations. This begins with the very first look; an AI-generated feminine face is embroidered onto a trench coat, setting off two green eyes and carmine-red lips. The following look features a skin-tight turtleneck encrusted with similar crystals, positioned to form a gigantic eye. The third look offers yet another crystal-embedded piece, this time a pair of lips on a round-neck sweater.
Pieces featuring optical effects are introduced via printed denim and varying-sized polka dots. The outfits acquire a surrealist touch, with exaggerated lips unfurling again here and there. This variation on a theme runs through the first part of the collection, until a more vibrant color palette emerges. Bold colors make their way into the wardrobe; an overcoat comes in bright red, a bucket hat in gold, while pants are dyed royal blue or yellow.
Black silhouettes gradually appear within these waves of color, in profile or from the back, for added optical illusions. These hyper-chromatic passages are created by Ghanaian visual artist Prince Gyasi, whose photographs are reproduced on the outfits using prints and fabric manipulations. When choosing the color palette, Rousteing also collaborated with British-Cameroonian artist Ibby Njoya, who brought touches of tie-dye on shirts, bags, suits, and trench coats, imbuing Balmain with a distinctive African perspective.
Rousteing eventually returns to the sobriety of black, the better to highlight the collection’s golden details, such as bicep bracelets, durags, briefcases, the impressive metal shirts, or entire coats. These golden accents capture the strange cohesion of this collection; tribal jewelry harmonizes with flashing bracelets, while chunky necklaces adorn an armor inspired by African-American hip-hop culture. As a bouquet final, icon and supermodel Naomi Campbell closed the show wearing an oversized coat, with an arm-shaped jewelry piece holding golden flowers for her.
Between surrealism and dandyism, tradition and innovation, the collection moves through various realms with seamless elegance and offers an empowering glimpse into the heritage of African fashion. Balmain’s Fall/Winter 2024 menswear collection stands as a curated art-inspired masterpiece, a symphony of colors and cultural narratives that help bring different perspectives to the runway. An undeniable successful comeback for Balmain Homme.
