Olivier Rousteing to Step Up for Gaultier Couture
Rumour has it that Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing will take the guest designer reins for the next Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show.
Rumour has it that Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing will take the guest designer reins for the next Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show.
Following Chitose Abe from Sacai in A/W 21 and Y/Project’s Glenn Martens for S/S 22, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing has been tipped as the next designer to plumb the Jean Paul Gaultier archives for the house’s next couture collection for A/W 22.
Although there is no official word from either camp as of press time on what we can expect from the union, the partnership was hinted at when Anthony Vacarello (creative director at Yves Saint Laurent), Gaultier and Rousteing were seen runway-side at AZ Factory's Love Brings Love show in honor of Alber Elbaz in October 2021.
The guest designer project, an idea Gaultier had in the 1990s but which has come to fruition in the age of luxury label "hacks" and collaborations, sees a young designer take the reins and re-interpret JPG codes through their own process. For Rousteing, a creative who plays with sensuality and body-con shapes with Balmain, it will be fascinating to see how he re-imagines those iconic JPG patterns and cuts.