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Alain Hivelin

Pierre Balmain Spring 2012 — More Affordable Balmain Line [Pictures]
Balmain

A First Look at Balmain's More Affordable Line, Pierre Balmain

>> Balmain's new, more affordable line, Pierre Balmain, doesn't start hitting stores until early December, but a first look at the debut collection, for Spring 2012 — is in order.
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>> Balmain's new, more affordable line, Pierre Balmain, doesn't start hitting stores until early December, but a first look at the debut collection, for Spring 2012 — is in order.

The new line covers everything from eveningwear to daywear, tailoring to jeans, and will be created by a separate design team from Olivier Rousteing, who is set to concentrate exclusively on the higher-end Balmain label. As Balmain chairman and CEO Alain Hivelin explains the dichotomy, Rousteing will make the “quintessentially Parisian” main collection “even more sophisticated and couture-like — without, of course, renouncing that ‘rock’ aesthetic that has been so important for us these the last few years." Whereas: "The Pierre Balmain collection translates the codes of Balmain in a more casual and relaxed manner ... We see Pierre Balmain as a new and distinct brand that is inspired by the successes and history of a great house, but offers a look and product that respond to the needs and desires of today’s marketplace.”

 

Prices for Pierre Balmain — in light of the Balmain mainline's infamously sky-high prices — are to range from 120 euros ($172) for T-shirts and 250 euros ($363) for jeans up to 900 euros ($1,291) for eveningwear.

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Christophe Decarnin Out at Balmain, and Not Just Because of His Show Absence
Balmain

Christophe Decarnin Out at Balmain, and Not Just Because of His Show Absence

>> Christophe Decarnin, who joined Balmain as a designer in 2005 and was named creative director of women's ready-to-wear in November 2007, has left the brand, effective immediately.
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>> Christophe Decarnin, who joined Balmain as a designer in 2005 and was named creative director of women's ready-to-wear in November 2007, has left the brand, effective immediately. A successor — an internal candidate is reportedly the frontrunner — is expected to be named next week.

Stylist Melanie Ward, who helped pull together the Fall 2011 collection under Decarnin's directives starting three weeks before the show, is Cathy Horyn's suggestion for successor. She has the experience: she was creative director of Helmut Lang for 13 years, when the namesake designer was still at that label.

Decarnin's exit is not a surprise, given his absence from the Fall 2011 show, due to doctor's orders after seeking treatment for depression. However, WWD reports that sources close to the designer say the state of Decarnin's mental health was overblown. A Balmain rep corroborates that the designer's depression wasn't the cause of his exit, saying this morning that Decarnin's absence from the show "is not the reason, but everything is related" and instead citing "work differences . . . that I cannot comment on."

Tensions between Decarnin and Balmain chairman and CEO Alain Hivelin had reached a breaking point by the time of the show, WWD reports, with each man holding widely divergent views of company strategy and direction. Hivelin cited a desire to keep a tight rein on distribution of the top line, which has had sales growth in excess of 50 percent in recent years, but was also quietly testing future avenues of growth for the brand — including a less-expensive line, Balmain Blue, that reportedly irked Decarnin and was never brought to market.

With Decarnin gone, it looks like that line may be brought back in some form: Ittierre, which produces diffusion collections like C’N’C Costume National and Just Cavalli (as well as Galliano), has reportedly secured a license with Balmain, although both companies have remained mum on the subject.

Balmain Quietly Testing Lower-Priced Blue Label Line
Balmain

Balmain Quietly Testing Lower-Priced Blue Label Line

>> Since Christophe Decarnin took over Balmain, it has become known for its sky-high prices as much as its spangled minidresses and pumped-up shoulders; currently, the brand's destroyed t-shirts are selling for $1,624, jackets from $5,333, and runway dresses can be up to $59,856.But Balmain chairman and chief executive officer Alain Hivelin realizes that such prices leave out a plethora of potential customers, particularly in fast-growing markets like China and Southeast Asia — so he's quietly testing lower-priced possibilities.
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>> Since Christophe Decarnin took over Balmain, it has become known for its sky-high prices as much as its spangled minidresses and pumped-up shoulders; currently, the brand's destroyed t-shirts are selling for $1,624, jackets from $5,333, and runway dresses can be up to $59,856.

But Balmain chairman and chief executive officer Alain Hivelin realizes that such prices leave out a plethora of potential customers, particularly in fast-growing markets like China and Southeast Asia — so he's quietly testing lower-priced possibilities. Already, a Mongolian cashmere range is selling in China, and soon, the brand will test out Blue Label — a clothing collection for Fall, priced 40 to 50 percent lower than the runway line — on the market.

Balmain Turns to Military Sauvage for Spring 2010
Oliver Peoples

Balmain Turns to Military Sauvage for Spring 2010

>> With Laduree macaroons catered backstage and Rihanna arriving half an hour late to sit front row, Daria Werbowy opened (and closed, and walked in the middle of) the Balmain show — her only show for the season — in the gilded, marbled ballroom of The Grand Hotel.
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>> With Laduree macaroons catered backstage and Rihanna arriving half an hour late to sit front row, Daria Werbowy opened (and closed, and walked in the middle of) the Balmain show — her only show for the season — in the gilded, marbled ballroom of The Grand Hotel.

Christophe Decarnin's strong shoulders and ripped jeans were still present, but gone were the '80s. This season, “it’s warrior women and the military, with a mix of different times and a touch of Mad Max," he told Suzy Menkes; stylist Emmanuelle Alt's personal style was prevalent as ever, particularly in the pants-and-jackets combinations.

Since Decarnin took over at Balmain in 2006, the brand's ready-to-wear sales have double each season, according to CEO Alain Hivelin, and next season brings an eyewear collection with Oliver Peoples.  The brand's much-buzzed-about $2,000 jeans are priced as such because, Hivelin says, certain pieces receive hundreds of hours of embroidery or have been reworked up to 50 times before they hit retail.  But here's irony for you: Decarnin picks up his own wardrobe at army surplus stores.

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