Balmain's Spring Summer 2023 Transforms the Vision of Couture and Sustainability

Designer Olivier Rousteing gives us a glimpse of futurist trends with inspiration from southeast Asian landscape and culture. Models rocked the dramatic granite runway with pieces of printed renaissance art on flowy and feminine dresses with exposed shoulders and collar bones.

As the industry advances to a sustainable front, designers have pulled inspiration from nature and animals, and the Balmain x Evian partnership unveiled beautiful collections that ran with this with weighty over-the-top silhouettes that engulfed the petite models. However, texture and detail were not missed with fabrics mimicking braided bamboo, bark, and rope.

The show began with a naturalistic color pallet of sage, nutshell, pineapple, chalk, and woven body suits with padded exaggerated hips like those created by the industrial-like shapewear worn by the ladies of the 14th century.

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Models sashayed in chunky open-toe platform shoes that tied around their feet like something from the moon. The exhibition was far from minimal. Asymmetrical flamboyant wooden and metal accessories and elements that looked straight out of Xena: the Princess Warrior. Outfits were draped over models with flowy skirts and pants and shape wear layered on top with string ties and peplum construction.

The matching sets were hot with bright orange and yellow flames printed over silky black fabrics, oversized blazers are always a given, and some of the classic renaissance prints may have just been a blast from the past. Still, the most incredible part of the show was the finale, where models emerged in mermaid silhouettes with feathers and branches and shiny detailed dresses that shaped around the models like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

Overall, the Balmain x Evian partnership drew much inspiration from the gaudy renaissances, but it looked a bit too identical to those we saw in the late-2010s. However, the true showstoppers were organic and creative designs that pushed the boundaries of natural inspiration and integrated many eastern cultures with movements of now and in the future.