Designer A-Z

Balmain

Spring/Summer 2010

SHOW SCHEDULES

By Avril Mair

The best way to sum up Balmain is in the words of Dolly Parton, 'It costs a lot of money to look this cheap'.

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That’s no criticism, by the way. On the morning of their spring/summer 2010 show, Women’s Wear Daily reported that under the creative direction of Christophe Decarnin, ready-to-wear sales for the label have doubled each past season. That’s a whole lot of sharp shoulders and sequins. With Rihanna front row in the oppulent ballroom of the Grand Hotel Paris, wearing Balmain harem pants and a very pointy tuxedo jacket, the pressure was on to set another trend, beat the astonishing figures, send out a new celebrity-friendly look. He did it, of course. This season’s unlikely muse was Tina Turner in Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome. She’d been sent to war, though, so everything had a military twist. Chainmail was chopped into dresses, hacked at then draped goddess-style, sequinned and belted. Suede and leather was slashed, holed and torn into tiny skirts or shorts. A khaki army shirt was worn over a ribbed vest and skin-tight sequin trousers. Jeans were stained and destroyed, teamed with elaborate tailcoats and belts embellished with bullets. Everything was paired with chic little lace-up ankle boots, an update on autumn/winter’s buckled version. And the shoulder? It was still there. Business as usual, then.