Olivier Rousteing may still be under 40, but he’s already the third longest-serving non-founder creative director in luxury ready-to-wear—trailing only Hermès menswear’s enduring Véronique Nichanian and Max Mara’s powerhouse Ian Griffiths. Even as fashion obsesses over its latest fleeting trends, Rousteing’s rare mix of seasoned experience and youthful energy gives him a grounded, optimistic perspective.

Speaking in his office, he explained: “A designer must evolve by constantly reinventing themselves. It’s not just about a fashion house growing tired of a designer—the designer should feel that restlessness too if they aren’t pushing their own boundaries. You keep your core identity, but you create entirely new expressions of it. Like making different albums with the same artistic voice.”

At Balmain, Rousteing remains deeply committed to both the brand and his philosophy of continuous reinvention. The resort collection’s lookbook photography reflected this—approaching the designs with fresh eyes while leveraging his deep industry knowledge to ensure commercial success.

For womenswear, pastel-checked bouclé pieces (a nod to Clueless), sleek black options, and bold color combinations—some reserved for the showroom—highlighted that tweed makes up over 20% of Balmain’s ready-to-wear. A floral motif, reimagined from a Pierre Balmain archive piece, appeared across new iterations of the brand’s expanding handbag lineup: the Anthem (belt-buckle detail), the Sync (chain-strap), the Ébène (croissant-shaped), and the sharply tailored Shuffle.

While bodycon wasn’t entirely absent—seen in knit bandage dresses and a floral split skirt—the focus shifted toward innovative oversized tailoring. Wool Prince of Wales checks were often cropped and paired with matching microskirts or shorts, playing with proportions. One standout was a voluminous coat with a Monet-inspired felted print, a tribute to Pierre Balmain’s artistic roots. Wedge boots, now in shearling alongside leather, contrasted with delicate lingerie dresses, while cocooning capes in peach or lemon cashmere offered effortless elegance.

Menswear balanced radical and conservative elements—sharp, structured tailoring against relaxed denim, leather, or jacquard sportswear. Formal shoes were reinvented with chunky soles and metallic detailing, blending bourgeois French sophistication with streetwear edge. Hidden gems in the showroom included labyrinth-patterned shirt-and-short sets, leather-wool hybrid jackets, and bouclé overshirts—unphotographed but undeniably striking.

As Rousteing put it: “The real question is always: What do you want to offer? My answer evolves each season, but it’s always about revisiting the past to shape the future. That’s why I keep having this dialogue with Pierre Balmain’s original vision—finding new ways to express that conversation.”