A thousand guests, and about 6,000 spectators who have grabbed a ticket. They have already applauded over 100 looks. They raised their smartphones in a shower of flashes when Precious Lee and Ashley Graham appeared on the platform. Yet they proved tireless when Cher, called by the maison for the video presentation of the new bag, which appeared on the maxi screens at the start of the show, materialized by surprise.
Designer Olivier Rousteing called on Cher to close the third edition of his maison’s fashion and music festival. And on the catwalk parade untreated raw materials and references to art between the 14th and 16th centuries
“Cause I’m strong enough”. As Cher sings. Who for the grand finale of the third edition of the Balmain festival, makes her appearance on the almost endless catwalk that towers in the middle of the Jean-Bouin stadium. Below and all around the stands, the audience is in raptures.
Here she is, closing the défilé in a bodysuit like a second skin, embracing Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing. The legend herself, by the hand of the legend himself. Cher thanked on Twitter: ‘It was probably the best fashion show ever. The models were beauties from another universe. Clothes to die for. Olivier to die for. The stage was calling me. Cher, oh Cher, come home”. Thus, the enfant prodige of French fashion does not shy away from giving her Balmain army a wow factor.
In fact, the designer relies on the corresponding French term, ‘renaissance’. Renaissance. Whose hope, beauty and progress he now celebrates. Art and sculpture between the 14th and 16th centuries arrive on the looks, in prints. Planets are like accessories of astronomical dimensions. And there are raw, untreated materials to avoid water pollution caused by chemical dyes. But always in bold constructions that show its green commitment, which includes a high percentage of earth-friendly fabrics for the production of the fall 2022 collection and the promise to complete the transition to certified sustainable wool by next season. On the other, the fashion house does not relent on the preciousness of draping, weaving, patchwork and sculpture-like pieces, which Rousteing considers an expression of sustainability in their being durable, timeless. Balmain couture spring 2023 celebrates Africa (the designer recently discovered that his birth parents come from the Horn of Africa, ed.). And where chestnut bark was transformed into a bustier, oak bark moulded into a little dress. Between raffia, jute ropes and twigs, none of them cut.
A hundred or so garments alternated in the imposing stage space composed mostly of a marble catwalk, making their way among flowing trousers, wicker corsets and other experimental intuitions destined to go viral, such as a haute couture garment made from a material composed of 46% recycled Evia brand plastic bottles. But this is not the first time that Rousteing has decided to entrust the garments of his fashion shows to a world star. Only last year, in fact, giants such as Carla Bruni and Naomi Campbell had appeared on the runway. On this occasion, in addition to Cher’s decidedly iconic close, Precious Lee, Kristen McMenamy and Ashaley Graham were seen in the spotlight.
The singer concluded the spectacular défilé of her designer friend Olivier Rousteing staged at the Jean Bouin stadium in Paris during the French fashion week, confirming once again that she is a star capable of stopping time. Also in the audience, applauding, were Kylie Jenner, Nicola Peltz and husband Brooklyn Beckham
Incredible Cher, who at 76 years old closed the more than scenic Balmain catwalk, undoubtedly marking the high point of the third day of Paris Fashion Week. At the side of Olivier Rousteing, the fashion house’s stylist, who presented a ready-to-wear and a couture collection for next spring-summer on 28 September, the American performer received much applause, walking the catwalk as if time had never passed, dressed in a “second-skin effect” latex jumpsuit with contoured shoulders, cut-off gloves and those platform boots that are the collection’s hallmark.
Cher walked in front of a very large audience, where among ordinary people lurked big celebrities dressed in Balmain clothes. These included beauty and digital entrepreneur Kylie Jenner, 25, the baby of the Kardashian household, in a white perforated mini-dress, and a very popular couple: Nicola Peltz, 27, and her young husband Brooklyn Beckham, 23. A few months ago, the American actress switched from the blond she became famous with to her natural brown. Although the marriage to David and Victoria Beckham’s son took place in the spring, there is already talk of a family war over tensions between Nicola and her fashion designer mother-in-law, former Posh Spice.
These are all technical elements that are fully reflected in Rousteing’s show, which has chosen to pay homage to McQueen in its entirety, including in the type of attitude displayed by the models on the catwalk, grappling with shoes of almost prohibitive height.
