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Olivier Rousteing leaves Balmain: Focus on a fashion prodigy
Skyrocketed at the head of Balmain at just 25, Olivier Rousteing commands admiration for his meteoric rise. As a close friend of Beyoncé and the Kardashians, this child prodigy infused the house with his energy and glamour, heralding the rise of a pop-infused take on menswear couture. One tailored for the age of selfies and social media. On November 5th, 2025, Balmain announced that the designer will be stepping down as artistic director after 14 years as creative director of the house. Numéro looks back at the journey of a fashion star.
Olivier Rousteing, a designer rooted in his time
At the end of every Balmain show, Olivier Rousteing takes his bow like a pop star. He steps forward with the models, bows several times to the crowd, then runs off backstage. Is he hoping for an encore like the biggest performers? Or perhaps he’s genuinely daunted by the crowd, despite being incredibly famous on social media, where he ranks as the most followed designer on the planet, with over nine million Instagram followers. Besides, he is also on a first-name basis with Neymar Jr., Usher, and President Emmanuel Macron. Not to mention the entire Kardashian clan, past and today’s top models, or singer Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé.
The young French artistic director is a textbook case and compels admiration, not only for his success, but for his personal journey, tenacity, and candour too. “My life is a lot less glamorous than my Instagram account,” he often warns journalists at the start of any interview. Originally from Bordeaux, Olivier Rousteing was abandoned at birth. Although his adoptive parents doted on him, he was determined to make his own way and take some sort of revenge on life. Outside of school, where he was a top student, the teenager spent his time sketching girls and boys dressed in flamboyant costumes, like superheroes with special powers.
A meteoric rise
When he turned 18, Olivier Rousteing rushed to Paris to study fashion design. But the courses were too academic for his fiery, passionate temperament, and he dropped out just after a few months in. He headed to Italy with his sketches in his bags. First to Rome, then Florence, where he landed an internship at Roberto Cavalli. He was soon hired and quickly climbed the ranks, contributing to both the men’s and women’s collections of the Tuscan designer known for his love for prints of wild animals.
In 2009, the young designer returned to Paris after being hired to assist Christophe Decarnin, then creative director of Balmain. He was the same age as most of the studio assistants, but his experience was already far greater. And he still carried that relentless drive to succeed, paired with an energy able to move mountains. So much so that just two years later, the house on rue François-Ier entrusted him with its creative direction without hesitation.
Since the founder’s passing in 1982, the house has seen a series of designers and stylists coming and going. It belongs to that group of Parisian labels whose identity had never been clearly defined. The first bricks of the glamorous style claimed by the new creative director had, in fact, been laid by his predecessor. Rousteing took that aesthetic and made it his own regardless. He amplified it boldly, as if he had nothing to lose, with his extravagant use of stones, pearls, lace, embroidery and crystals, gold and silver lamé. The more, the better.
The Wonder Boy of fashion
Olivier Rousteing’s early collections were mainly womenswear. A few pairs of jeans with quilted reinforcements, like biker pants, ripped T-shirts, and tough-guy jackets with broad shoulders made up a capsule for men that was gradually expanded.
By the Spring/Summer 2016 season, the men’s wardrobe had become a whole collection, with its own dedicated show. The thrill of the runway electrified the creativity of the “Wonder Boy” – the title of his 2019 Netflix documentary – and soon enough, his presentations would feature twice as many looks as those presented by his peers.
In terms of style, the Balmain man has no equal in Paris. His looks are true ensembles that draw on the history of menswear at large. From military uniforms and Oriental garments to the optimistic, joyful, and uninhibited fashion of the 1980s, an important reference for Olivier Rousteing.
Yet, the designer seemed to be reinventing himself in his latest shows. One can think of the bohemian looks from the Spring/Summer 2026 collection or the pared-down silhouettes from the Fall/Winter 2025-2026 show. There, he was clearly offering a new wardrobe. These collections revealed his ability to renew himself, even after more than a decade at the helm of one of the greatest Parisian fashion houses… While his departure, announced on Wednesday 5th of November, took the fashion world by surprise, Olivier Rousteing will no doubt continue to make us dream.
