Presenting The Balmain Spring 2022 Campaign, Shot By Mert And Marcus
It wasn’t like we didn’t all have more than enough to do already...
During the last days of September, each member of the entire Balmain team was at the end of his or her rope, after having worked frantically for weeks to pull everything together for the presentation of the house’s Spring 2022 collection during the closing-night concert of last fall’s Balmain Festival. And that’s when I made the decision to throw one additional challenge into the mix. I decided that Balmain would partner with Mert and Marcus, for the first time, in order to have the duo shoot the campaign images for those same spring designs from backstage at La Seine Musicale, the impressive Jean Nouvel-designed concert hall where our annual runway-meets-rock festival was taking place.
I may not have made a lot of friends with that last-minute decision—but in the end, as our latest campaign make very clear, all that extra added tension and effort was very much worth it. I love what Mert and Marcus were able to capture from that moment—it’s a true behind-the-scenes peek at what was happening on the day before the big day. The duo’s photos have a raw, honest and snapshot-like quality, as the models— Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Lara Stone, Mariacarla Boscono, Adut, Jordan Barrett and Fernando Casablancas—pose casually in front of backdrops of concert seating and the towers of suburban Paris. Our Balmain designs somehow appear even more seductive and sensual when paired with spontaneous, relaxed poses from the mix of legends who have inspired me since childhood and some of today’s most remarkable new talents—an incredible grouping that clearly reflects the strong, diverse and rebellious spirt of today’s Balmain Army.
The message of the collection that we showed last September—a joy-filled and extremely personal message about new beginnings and the impressive liberating power of honesty and healing—could not possibly have found a more perfect complement than these images. Many, many thanks to my very patient team for putting up with me and to Mert and Marcus for this wonderful campaign.
Olivier Rousteing
Paris
26 January 2022