For Fall/Winter 2023-24, Balmain presented an elegant collection in which Olivier Rousteing reiterates his taste for sublime experimentation. For Olivier Rousteing, his youth (36 years, 12 of which he has spent at Balmain) has always been a characteristic that gives him an advantage over other designers: an incredible ability to evolve, to not stagnate and to allow himself to experiment with what he and his public want. For the Fall/Winter 2023-24 season, this transformative spirit continues to permeate what Balmain is capable of. With a sober presentation, Rousteing unveiled a collection marked by what could be categorized as futuristic (or even out-of-this-world) elegance. On the catwalk, the models walked dressed in designs that could well have been created in a utopian society beyond our stars. There is a certain charm à la Cardin in what we saw today in Paris.

Valli found his palette in a collage of flower markets, buildings and landscapes in Asia, and Botticelli paintings, and rendered every exit in its own shade of joy. His emotions materialized in a look that evoked the glamour of the Roman aristocracy in the 1960s. Luxurious, louche and graphic, it was all about colors and trimmings, maxi-earrings, crystal bindis, turbans and big shades. “I always loved the idea of nomadic. But more than ever–and in my country first of all—it’s nice to have no limits; no borders. I want to see the horizon and get inspired by other cultures. Be curious, be nomadic,” he said. Valli demonstrated his hand-spun craftiness in a jacket and shorts covered in a trompe l’oeil print that mimicked bergère before the real deal manifested in various straw dresses woven like bergère.