Balmain For Sale
Want to buy Balmain? According to Les Echos, the €300-400 million brand is up for sale. The heirs of Alain Hivelin reportedly gave a sale mandate to Bucephale Finance, but a whole 30% stake of the company still remains in the hands of relatives of the Hivelin family who are expected to sell their shares in the near future.
So what does this mean for the company as a whole?
Balmain's creative director Olivier Rousteing. Image Credit: Robert Fairer
Balmain has been revitalized, for better or worse, in the past few years thanks to the most recent creative director Olivier Rousteing. With previous creative directors like the highly regarded Oscar de la Renta, many believe that however popular Balmain has become in the past few years due to social media, the brand has gained a rather unflattering image in the process. Many people believe that newest creative director has put too much emphasis on the celebrity appeal of the brand than on the designing of the clothes themselves.
This could be a debate regarding whether or not Olivier is doing a good job as creative director. Many have been disappointed with his strong emphasis on celebrities as a strategy to propel the brand into the global marketplace. It was the prior head of Balmain’s vision to expand the company’s standing to the global sphere, and it seems that Olivier Rousteing has made it his aim to accomplish this goal. It also seems that Olivier has a “global retail rollout plan”, already in the works. With a flagship store in London, the brand is planning to open a new flagship in New York followed by others in order to have locations internationally on a grander scale. Rousteing, only 24 years-old when appointed to the position of creative director, is focusing on fulfilling past chairman and majority owner Hivelin’s dream of making Balmain an international empire.
Rousteing seems to see himself as Pierre Balmain incarnate by introducing radical silhouettes. Balmain dressed the jet set, embraced couture as well as new techniques and fabrics. Personally, I hope that when Balmain acquires a new owner there will be more of the old Balmain.
My hope is that if, and when, Balmain sells, whoever takes control over the company will bring the spirit of Balmain back to the house. The fashion house was originally known as being quintessentially Parisian: classic, elegant, haute couture. Pierre Balmain wished to inspire through fashion during a rough political time.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West for the Balmain SS15. Image Credit: Balmain.
Olivier has utilized social media, hosting a digital revolution. “I was born with Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Skype. The fact is I love communicating with people. I love pop culture, and pop, for me, is popular and population,” said Rousteing, in an exclusive video interview with Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed, two weeks after he became the most followed French fashion designer on Instagram, with over one million followers. Though, I believe that there has been a bit of overkill on the social media presence and use in order to promote the brand. There does not seem to be a clear image or direction that the company is going in. Balmain has tripled its growth in the past few years, so clearly Olivier is doing something right, though I hope to think of a word other than “ostentatious” when I hear the name Balmain.
