It’s highly evident with his recent collections that Olivier Rousteing is slightly changing things up in terms of his design aesthetic. He’s going for more architectural angles, a possible precursor of his upcoming Balmain haute couture project, but maybe also a new step in other directions. His Pre-Fall 2019 presentation stood testament to such ambitions where, against his usual array of 80s-style aesthetics, were interesting geometric ensembles that were slightly more avant-garde for him than usual. Jacket lapels were exaggeratedly elongated, corsets went way beyond the body, and the rounder silhouettes that he first explored during his Spring 2019 show. This season, he was also inspired by East Asian imagery, which many might interpret as his new take on his iconic basket-weaving technique during his first few seasons for the brand. It’s interesting to see that a designer as distinct as Rousteing is expanding his vocabulary-style and it’ll be exciting to see how much further he’ll branch out.
Photo: Courtesy of Balmain
