Olivier Rousteing has a documentary on his extraordinary life out this year. Photo / Getty Images
Olivier Rousteing has a documentary on his extraordinary life out this year. Photo / Getty Images
He has worked with Beyoncé and Rihanna, Kim Kardashian is his BFF and the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, swears by his tailoring. Now he has his sights set on dressing the Duchess of Sussex — and possibly the biggest job in fashion. By Laura Atkinson.
Oh là là!Olivier Rousteing, the handsome man-child creative director of Balmain, is blushing. Why? I have merely asked about a swirling rumour that he could be next in line for the Chanel throne. Is he throwing his CV into the ring? "Non," he says, with a huge grin on his face, "I never heard that rumour," before he bursts out laughing.
Still only 33, Rousteing's ambition should not be underestimated. His incredible story — plucked from a Bordeaux orphanage by a wealthy couple as a baby, he went on to become one of the youngest heads of a Parisian fashion house aged 25 (only Yves Saint Laurent was younger, at 21) — might sound like a fashion fairy tale, but against all the odds, Rousteing has achieved his dream. Overseeing the 74-year-old house of Balmain, he has witnessed the business grow to four times the size it was in 2010, while recruiting the world's most glamorous women to be his "Balmain army": Beyoncé, JLo, Rihanna, Kim, Kendall, Cara — you name her, she's worn the brand, and inevitably become part of Rousteing's formidable girl gang (signature look: short skirt, big shoulders, tight trousers).
Fashion designers Olivier Rousteing and Karl lagerfeld in 2014. Photo / Getty Images
We meet during Rousteing's whistle-stop visit to London, where he is launching a trainer line at a Balmain pop-up in Selfridges. "Balmain is known for being very expensive, but at the same time I am young, kind of, so doing sneakers is an entry for a younger crowd," he says. (A £590/NZ$1,100 price tag might not seem entry-level for you or me, but it is a canny move, guaranteed to appeal to the jet-setting rich kids of Instagram, who lap up everything he does.) He first visited London aged 11 with his parents and remembers standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace. "I was obsessed with royalty because we don't have it in France; the Queen, Lady Diana …" What about our newest royal, Meghan? "What can I say? I love her," he gushes. "It is an incredible step — more diversity, which is something I always fight for in my own little world. She is beautiful." Would he like to dress her? "Oh yeah, absolutely. She has a confidence, a sexiness, but still respecting the protocol." Has he thought about what he'd dress her in? "A beautiful long, double-breasted jacket with flared pants," he grins without missing a beat.
Indeed, many of the world's power wives wear Balmain: Brigitte Macron, France's glamazon first lady, is particularly partial to a Balmain blazer. With a client like Macron, Rousteing will be personally involved, meeting and fitting the clothes for the VIPs. "She knows my story, she knows the brand, so I think she was interested to support us. I love her as a woman." What about that other firebrand first lady, Melania? Does she wear Balmain? "Non." Silence. "She bought Balmain." More silence. Ah, so there is a difference? "If she want to ask me … I don't know," he smiles sweetly. "She is an incredibly beautiful woman. Maybe if I meet her and I can have a talk to her…"
Kim Kardashian wearing Balmain. Photo / Getty Images
Disarmingly polite and well spoken, even in the face of Donald Trump's wife, he credits his parents, whom he is very close to, for his impeccable manners and work ethic. "They have incredible values and gave me an incredible education," he says in his heavy French accent. Still, it is his unusual background that drives him. "I think I am always fighting to be accepted for who I am. The first thing they said at the orphanage to my parents, who are white, was: 'Are you sure you want a black child?' In a weird way it has always been that I have to prove they made the right choice. I think in fashion it is the same way — I always wanted to prove that, no matter where I come from, I can be someone."
In between his day job, he has been filming a documentary, due for release later this year, in which he traces his roots and returns to the orphanage where he spent his early months. "For 30 years I didn't know where I was coming from," he says. "It was really difficult and emotional. When you discover the truth, you might not be happy to find that. You might feel free because finally you have answers to your questions, but sometimes the answers are not answers you want to hear." So does he track down his mother? "I do." And is she still alive? "Yep." Does he meet her in the documentary? "I cannot say," he smiles. Prepare for what sounds like a pretty powerful film.
Olivier Rousteing and models walk the runway during the Balmain show as part of the Paris Fashion Week 2019. Photo / Getty Images
The young Rousteing decided he wanted to become a fashion designer aged 18, and despite his parents' reservations — "My parents were worried, I am an only child" — he headed off to Milan for an internship. What advice would he give that young man now? "Fashion is a tough world. Don't trust people so fast. When I was young, everyone loves you, you're the cutie one, but fashion is a huge business and when they love you, they love you, and when they don't, they don't. It can be cruel."
Is he speaking from personal experience? It is certainly true that the fashion industry can be snippy when it comes to Rousteing's social-media-first world, his A-list friends, his blinged-up millennial aesthetic. "The snobbery is something that is really painful to me. I have been bullied by snobby people because I had ambition that I shouldn't maybe have had at that age, and because of my background," he says, shrugging his shoulders. Does he ever doubt himself? "I don't doubt my work. I'm more questioning the fashion world right now — if sometimes my vision is right for fashion? Because, you know, fashion has rules. And sometimes when you don't want to follow the rules, is it still fashion?" He was one of the first creative directors to fully embrace social media: "People were like, 'How can you put luxury on social media?' Now everyone is doing it." Oh, but Olivier, don't let the haters get you down. "I think there's a lot of hate right now, from social media… I've learnt to deal with it. If you love me, you love me — if you hate me, you hate me."
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Perhaps when you have a personal Instagram account with 5.4m followers, it's to be expected. His site is peppered with intimate to-camera chats from Rousteing, highly amusing footage of him singing A Whole New World from Aladdin to his driver and the odd selfie with Victoria Beckham ("She is one of my ideal women"), and he is aware that fashion intellectuals may simply see him as the guy who is mates with Kim Kardashian and pouts to the camera — perhaps to the detriment of his talents as a designer. "I think I have too many followers!" he laughs. These days he is "a bit more careful on social media. I think there is less spontaneity and authenticity."
As for Kardashian, they are as tight as ever and last had dinner at his Parisian apartment a couple of months ago, before her latest baby arrived. "Yes, and I love mothers," he says, unexpectedly. "Maybe it is something that always touched me because of where I'm coming from. When I see a mother and child, I always have a thing where I think, that child is not abandoned, so I always see that as a lucky, special thing. When I went to LA to see Kim after she had North, who was a little baby — that was like, wow, I had even more of a crush on her." Would he like kids himself? "I would love to. But I am really bad at relationships, so first I need to find someone to have one with." He claims not to have had a boyfriend in more than 10 years, "maybe because I hide myself behind my work. I have a few flirts, but my first love is work." Speaking of which, time is up and he has sneakers to sell. Time for a quick selfie together? "Of course," he smiles.
Olivier Rousteing and models walk the runway during the Balmain show as part of the Paris Fashion Week 2019. Photo / Getty Images
