Balmain Women Spring/Summer 2025 / SS25 at Paris Fashion Week

For next season, we continue to build upon the singular design vision that defines Balmain. In our recent collections, drawing direct inspiration from the incredible eight-decades worth of designs filling the house’s rich archives, we’ve channeled the timeless, audacious force of Monsieur Balmain’s legendary ‘New French Style’ and the architectural savvy behind his acclaimed ‘Jolie Madame’ silhouette. But for Spring 2025, my team and I set our sights on a much more recent history, as we riff upon the codes, themes and now-iconic styles of the 21st-century Balmain—referencing many of the looks that I first began sending down the Balmain runway thirteen years ago.

We’ve kept this collection extremely focused, with the goal of ensuring that every design is immediately recognizable as containing key strands of the DNA of today’s modern Balmain. Relying on the savoir-faire of our atelier’s artisans, we’ve further evolved the precision cuts, structure and tailoring that have always set us apart—transforming signature powerful shoulders, further amplifying angular hips, offering clever twists on complementarily contrasting cropped jackets and skirts, and, by adding a deftly consolidated trouser-boot design, helping to guarantee an always-perfect silhouette for our pantalon super droit. My enduring fascination with intricate embellishments is reflected In complex pearl patterns, pictures and portraits, with some of the impressive photo-realistic creations requiring hundreds of thousands of beads and weeks of expert embroidery. Throughout, you’ll note new takes on our trademark marinière, as well as my continued preference for using tweed to create sleek and fresh ensembles. In addition, my team and I have been inspired by one quite unexpected, yet very familiar, Balmain symbol—my own personal wardrobe. The often-repeated combo of skinny leather pants and a DB jacket thrown over a simple tee or tank has been my go-to look for closing runways and meeting with the press for over a decade—and now it’s been adapted to form part of this season’s extensive daywear offerings.

Since this presentation concentrates on signatures, codes and icons of the modern house, it seems the perfect moment to introduce our latest bag, the Anthem. Cinched with the same wide ceinture that I often turn to for that final finishing touch, the new collection of leather bags is inspired by the nipped-waist silhouette of Monsieur Balmain’s mid-century couture designs, as well as the powerful and confidence-inducing embrace of today’s Balmain tailoring. The bag’s name, of course, underlines Balmain’s deep connections with musical artists and their compositions.

Many accessories and clothing designs channel the angular lines and graphic components of another classic design, the historic Balmain perfume bottle, which was first introduced by our founder in 1946 for his Vent Vert fragrance, and which was adapted for the new line of Balmain Beauty scents, Les Éternels. There are several other designs that playfully reference the packaging, palette and powders of the house’s recently launched Balmain Beauty collection, including a final runway grouping, with a range of minimalist silk sheaths reflecting the multitude of tones within the Balmain Beauty palette. And it’s those last looks that spotlight what is, without any doubt, my favorite modern Balmain icon: the inspiring diversity of beauty that is constantly celebrated inside our inclusive Balmain Army.

Olivier Rousteing, Paris 25 September 2024

REVIEW FROM JTDAPPERFASHIONWEEK

Surrealism is famous in the end of the fashion industry season, Olivier Rousteing, Balmain’s art director, brings Surrealism with haute couture and avant-garde atelier into the collection. The human body, the signature of Balmain’s blazer, and African culture are the inspiration for Balmain Women Spring/Summer 2025.

Balmain Women SS25 details, the silhouette of the human body’s face and lips painted mosaic from swarovski embroidery appear in the collection to be a unique statement of fashion. The art of painting from a canvas dress with a silhouette of a naked human body appears on a mini dress. Chains to complete the artistic fashion style replace the lines and boundaries of the haute couture and Ready-to-Wear collection.

Balmain’s signature and vintage is about the blazer with shoulder pads back to Spring/Summer 2025, the silhouette blazer appears on a mini skirt or hips to cover trousers. The signature silhouette of the Balmain blazer turns into a hip pad on a pencil dress and mini dress. The asymmetrical silhouette of the blazer goes into the half fold of the blazer without shoulder pads.

The African culture of rings around the neck was transformed into haute couture fashion, appearing on sculpted mini dresses that taper at the hips with ring patterns. Ring patterns on metallic material also appeared on belts to complement blazer looks. Ring patterns also appeared on bracelets to accessorize the look. African sculptures of silhouette of face from surrealist fashion appeared on Balmain skirts and mini dresses. Color pallette of Balmain Women SS25 is black, red, beige and gold.

All images Balmain Women Spring/Summer 2025 / SS25 by Balmain. Runway Credits : Stylists Charlotte Stockdale and Katie Lyall, Hair Sam McKnight, Make Up Isamaya Ffrench for @MACcosmetics, Casting Establishment NY, Music Frédéric Sanchez, Production  La Mode En Images, PR Agency Karla Otto Paris