Balmain’s head designer Olivier Rousteing has opened up on designer knock-offs, saying that they don’t annoy him, and he is actually impressed with the creativity of high street brands because they mix so many different trends and styles together. He explained that he is often interested in seeing the approach they take when it comes to bringing high fashion to the mass market, and he has been impressed with how Zara make it their own especially:
“I love seeing a Zara window with my clothes mixed with Céline and Proenza [Schouler]! I think that’s genius. It’s even better than what I do! I love the styling, I love the story… I watch the windows always, and it’s genius what they do today. They go fast, they have a great sense of styling and how to pick up what they have to pick up from designers. I’m really happy that Balmain is copied – when I did my Miami collection and we did the black and white checks, I knew they would be in Zara and H&M. But they did it in a clever way – they mixed a Céline shape with my Balmain print! Well done! I love that.”
Commenting on previously enlisting singer Rihanna for their campaign, Olivier believes it make a strong statement because she is his biggest muse and he believes many people look up to her more than just a model face. He explained:
“It was an amazing statement for the house, for fashion. It was really important that she was doing the campaign because she’s my muse, she’s my icon, and she’s my friend. She owned the clothes. That’s exactly what I want. I love seeing a woman, the feeling of a model, a top model. When you look at an old Versace show, you loved the dress, but you loved Claudia Schiffer, you loved Cindy Crawford. Supermodels! With Rihanna you get that too.”
