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Blending two impressive heritages, the 2024 Balmain Resort Collections build upon the compelling legacy of Monsieur Balmain, melding his passion for American dynamism with the house’s mastery of French craftsmanship.
For this podcast, Olivier Rousteing discusses how his decorative motifs channel the bold style of the American cowboy and how his collections reflect the true history of the Wild West, with designs celebrating the long-ignored diversity of the frontier.
Rousteing walks us through the collections, explaining how they riff upon two distinct traditions, with the sharp cuts, impressive leatherwork and striking embellishments of Balmain’s latest designs looking to both mid-century couture salons and 19th-century frontier saloons.
As you listen to this episode, we invite you to click here to open a special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through images of each collection, as Olivier Rousteing explains the inspirations, details and presentations of his designs.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 3.1
GO WEST, BALMAIN! THE BALMAIN RESORT 2024 COLLECTIONS
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Olivier Rousteing was interviewed by John Gilligan
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“My last runway surprised more than a few,” explains Olivier Rousteing. “Coverage of previous Balmain shows often focused on the fashion-week festivals and spectacles—but for our Fall 2023 Balmain Women’s designs, my team and I were determined to steer clear of the fireworks. Instead, we shone a single, perfectly directed spotlight upon the extraordinary possibilities offered to us whenever we celebrate this house’s rich heritage. We turned the volume way down, channeling the hushed atmosphere of Pierre Balmain’s intimate post-war couture salon presentations. By limiting the number of invitees, we allowed each guest the opportunity to better appreciate, close-up, just how our atelier’s impressive craftsmanship made possible the collection’s many surprising, fresh and modern spins on our founder’s signature silhouettes and this house’s most cherished codes.
For this episode, Olivier Rousteing sits down once again with John Gilligan for a conversation about his Balmain Fall 2023 designs for men and women. Rousteing also explains the origins and inspirations for a special joint couture collection that he created in partnership with Beyoncé: The Beyoncé x Balmain Renaissance Collection.
As you listen to this episode, we invite you to click here to open a special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of each collection, as Olivier Rousteing explains the inspirations, details and presentations of his designs.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.7
OLIVIER ROUSTEING: MY BALMAIN FALL 2023 COLLECTIONS
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Olivier Rousteing was interviewed by John Gilligan
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For this episode, Vogue Writer and Editor Lynn Yaeger returns to explain why she is so inspired by the fascinating life of Josephine Baker.
Born into a life of poverty, segregation and racial violence in Saint Louis, Josephine Baker managed to escape what seemed to have been her destiny—eventually transforming herself, through determination and talent, into the glamorous toast of Europe. She starred in successful movies, performed on the stages of the most important theaters and released a string of musical hits—some of which are now French classics.
But, as Yaeger is very happy to let us know, Baker was so much more than a star. She was also a decorated war hero, bravely volunteering to work as a French spy during World War II. In later years, she would return to America to enlist in another battle: the Reverend Martin Luther King’s movement for civil rights.
Josephine Baker was also a great inspiration for Pierre Balmain, who dressed Baker for several of her most legendary mid-century performances. Today, the house of Balmain is celebrated for its love of building upon the impressive power that results when music and fashion are connected. And that singular passion for weaving the two arts together began many decades ago, with Pierre Balmain’s stunning creations for one of the house’s original muses, Josephine Baker.
We invite you to click to open the episode’s special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of Josephine Baker.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.6
JOSEPHINE BAKER: SUPERSTAR, WAR HERO, ACTIVIST AND BALMAIN MUSE
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
Special Podcast Guest: Lynn Yaeger
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Pierre Balmain’s early architectural training was clearly reflected in his distinctive mastery of haute couture’s volumes and strict tailoring. It also pushed him to partner with leading architects of his day on the construction of impressive structures, most notably Villa Balmain, the designer's extraordinary retreat on the Isle of Elba.
For Miami’s Art Week, Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea has created “Hexagon Garden” in collaboration with LITO, a reimagined vision of Pierre Balmain’s beloved island get-away, with Arrechea transporting that sleek mid-century residence to a fascinating new location, set deep within the metaverse.
As Arrechea explains, inside his new, dreamlike universe, he’s played with important house symbols—bees and gems—as Villa Balmain’s bees carry a singularly precious pollen—dazzling gems—from the surrounding lush grounds into the artist’s hexagon gardens—honeycombs—that Arrechea has placed around and within the villa’s sleek walls. Ultimately, the bees create compelling shimmering variations on the architectural masks that Arrechea has explored in previous works.
We invite you to click to open the episode’s special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of Villa Balmain and Alexandre Arrechea’s creations, powered by LITO Hi-Rnd© Technology.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.5
VILLA BALMAIN: BEES, GEMS AND HEXAGON GARDEN
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
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As we wrap up our series of in-depth conversations with Olivier Rousteing about his ten years of guiding Balmain, John Gilligan sits down again with Rousteing to talk about the Creative Director’s favorite house moments of the past decade. From a beautiful classical ballet at the Paris Opera House to two incredible weekends at Coachella, Rousteing walks us through his inspirations, motivations and creations, helping us to better understand some of Balmain’s most notable one-of-a-kind collaborations, events and messages.
We invite you to click to open the episode’s special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of the images and videos that Olivier Rousteing will be discussing during this episode.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.4
THE ROUSTEING ERA: THE KEY MOMENTS
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
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For Olivier Rousteing, a house campaign marks the final creative moment of the season’s collection. And Rousteing is continually searching out surprising, engaging, and entertaining tools—new visions, new platforms—that he can rely on to ensure that each of his campaigns leaves a memorable impression. In this third episode of l’Atelier Balmain’s second season, we continue our series of conversations with Balmain’s creative director about his ten years of guiding the house, with Rousteing focusing on his favorite Balmain campaigns of the past decade, sharing the inspirations, challenges and stories behind his most successful campaigns.
We invite you to click to open the episode’s special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of the images and videos that Olivier Rousteing will be discussing during this episode.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.3
THE ROUSTEING ERA: THE KEY CAMPAIGNS
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
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For this episode of the Balmain podcast, we continue our series of conversations with Creative Director Olivier Rousteing, who explains the inspirations, designs and presentations that help set apart his favorite runways—as well as the challenges that he and his team had to overcome during the last ten years of Paris fashion weeks.
We invite you to click to open the episode’s special webpage, which will allow you to scroll through videos and images of the collections and runways that Olivier Rousteing will be discussing during this episode.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.2
THE ROUSTEING ERA: THE KEY RUNWAYS
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Webpage Layout and Coordination: Léa Bouyssou
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
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Last season’s podcast focused on some of the legendary moments, designs, images and personalities associated with Pierre Balmain and his legendary “New French Style”— highlighting how Monsieur Balmain’s unique and fresh designs helped to usher in the postwar era’s golden age of Paris couture.
With this first episode of season two of the podcast, we begin an in-depth, four-part exploration of today’s Balmain, as Olivier Rousteing, the house’s creative director, continues to build upon the rich heritage of the house, while always adding his own modern, inclusive and distinctive outlook—overseeing the “Renewed French Style” that sets apart 21st-Century Balmain.
In this and each of the upcoming episodes, Rousteing discusses key Balmain moments from the past ten years, explaining the inspirations behind his favorite house collections, campaigns and special events—as well as the challenges that he faced in making each of them happen.
This episode begins with a special tenth-anniversary message for Rousteing from Beyoncé. It was delivered during the latest Balmain Festival, which took place inside an ephemeral festival village, set on an island in the middle of Paris’ Seine River. The celebration combined two days of concerts, a runway presentation of the house’s latest designs and a special retrospective, where some of the most famous models of the past 25 years wore beautiful re-editions of key Olivier Rousteing creations from the past decade. Rousteing talks to us about Beyonce’s emotional message, the festival, the show, the retrospective and the influences behind the Balmain Spring 2022 collection that was premiered on the runway.
We invite you to click to the episode’s webpage, in order to see videos and images of the designs and presentations that Rousteing will be discussing during this episode.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE 2.1
THE ROUSTEING ERA: “HELLO OLIVIER, IT’S BEYONCE”
Special Guest Audio: Beyoncé
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
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Pierre Balmain’s designs were key ingredients in some of the twentieth century’s most important fashion shootings. Month after month, season after season, the house’s couture creations were worn by beautiful models in incredible locations, captured by talented photographers and published by the leading magazines.
Since this episode is centered on some of the mid-century’s most iconic fashion images, you may want to click on the webpage link to view the incredible photographs that our expert guests are describing.
One of this podcast’s fashion authorities is Susanna Brown, who joins us for a second time. Brown, a photography curator and art historian, has overseen some of the most impressive photography exhibitions in recent years, including a 2012 exhibit on Cecil Beaton, a 2014 exhibit on Horst and the acclaimed 2019 show on Tim Walker—all first shown at London’s Victoria And Albert (V&A) Museum. In Episode Six , Susanna Brown spoke with us about the photographer Horst and she returns today to talk about other celebrated fashion photographers of the twentieth century and walks us through some of their most notable creations.
Lynn Yaeger, the CFDA-award winning journalist who is known for her unique ability to mix an incredible design knowledge with often-amusing and always thought-provoking takes on class, politics, society and history also joins us on this episode.
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE EIGHT
Incredible Beauties, Legendary Photographers And Iconic Images
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Special Podcast Guests: Susanna Brown and Lynn Yaeger
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Pénélope André and Yasmine Ban Abdallah
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
To explore further:
Pierre Balmain: My Years and Seasons, (Doubleday, 1965)
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A key person behind the rapid early growth of Balmain and smooth operations of the legendary flagship at 44 François Premier was Ginette Spanier. Spanier was the first person to be named as Balmain’s Directrice, (the Director of the house), and she remained in that position for almost thirty years. While her name may not be familiar to many today, she was a well-known personality during her time at Balmain—due not only to her superb management of the house’s rapid growth, but also to her amazing life story.
It’s an incredible history that—just as the announcer of the popular television series “This Is Your Life” notes in the snippet we use to begin this episode—can be summed up as one of “fun, fear and fate.” Because Ginette Spanier was not only a genius at management—she was also a war hero.
Spanier’s extraordinary history, told in a trio of best-selling autobiographies, is composed of a series of startling changes and her perfect adaptation to each of them. She began life as a rich Parisian. But, after her upper-class family moved to London, her parents lost their fortune during the Great Depression. Suddenly needing to work, Spanier transformed herself into a Fortnum and Mason salesgirl, rubbing shoulders with royals, artists and aristocrats of the time. And then, after moving back to Paris to live with her new French husband in 1939, she was forced to spend the years of the Nazi occupation on the run, sheltered by brave résistants, as she and her husband—both Jewish—fled the Germans and their Vichy collaborators. Immediately after the liberation of Paris, she joined the Allied forces, helping to recruit, train and organize needed support staff for the American army, as it headed east toward Berlin. After the Nazis were finally defeated, Spanier worked to create and manage the team of translators that assisted in the prosecution of the some of the modern era’s most horrific war criminals, during the historic judgement at Nuremberg.
So… it’s clear that Spanier did not come with the typical background that one might expect for a Director of a French luxury haute couture house.
As Directrice of Balmain for almost 30 years, Spanier oversaw the everyday workings of Balmain—skillfully managing all members of the team and working closely with Pierre Balmain to make key decisions on collections and strategy.
She also oversaw the house’s daily shows and its large team of in-house haute-couture models, known as the Balmain Cabine. To best understand how Paris’ post-war model and show system worked, the podcast is joined once again by the award-winning fashion journalist Lynn Yaeger. And of course, Lynn was happy to share some amazing (and sometimes quite scandalous) tales with us.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE SEVEN
Fun, Fear and Fate
Fun, Fear and Fate: Ginette Spanier and Mid-Century Balmain
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Audio: This Is Your Life, 09.02.1972: Courtesy of Ralph Edwards Productions, TIYL Productions & Fremantle
Special Podcast Guest: Lynn Yaeger
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Pénélope André and Yasmine Ban Abdallah
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
To explore further:
Pierre Balmain: My Years and Seasons, (Doubleday, 1965)
Ginette Spanier: It Isn’t All Mink (Collins, 1959 and V&A Publishing, 2017)
Ginette Spanier: And Now It’s Sables (R. Hale, 1970)
Ginette Spanier: Long Road To Freedom (R. Hale, 1976)
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This Episode’s Music:
PRALINE SUNG BY JEAN SABLON
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes it very clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
During this episode, Lynn Yaeger managed to give her own distinctive spin to the translated lyrics of an early 1950’s French hit song about one of Balmain’s biggest stars: Praline. Paris has had many beautiful women (and men) working as in-house models—but there are few who ever managed to become as famous as Praline. And we can’t think of any other couture showroom model who ever had a hit song written about them! This 1951 tune was written by Eddie Constantine and sung by Jean Sablon. The melody is introduced with an astounded spoken reaction — “wait, you don’t know who Praline is?” — and then Jean Sablon breaks into a song that follows the Praline through one of her day as Balmain’s star model, beginning with her morning stroll down the Champs Elysées, following her through a tough day of shows , (while she always manages to keep looking perfectly put together), and finally, although she’s tired, she is persuaded to go out at night and ends up falling in love with the singer. That singer ends his tune by letting his listeners know that he is now the lucky guy who’s engaged to Praline. Et la vie est jolie!
Sur les Champs Elysées
Ses cheveux tout bouclés
Elle est fraîche et jolie,
C'est Praline regardez-la marcher
Elle a l'air de danser
Sur le coup de midi c'est Praline
Elle est toujours bien habillée
On dirait qu'elle est riche
Bien chapeautée, chaussée, gantée,
Elle a même un caniche
Car elle est mannequin
Du velours au satin
Elle pass' la journée, c'est Praline
Une robe du soir, le manteau rayé noir,
La robe de mariée, c'est Praline
Huit heur's tout' seule et fatiguée
Elle rentre chez elle
Demain il faut recommencer
Elle oublie qu'elle est belle
Sur les Champs Elysées
Des Messieurs distingués
Feraient bien des folies pour Praline
Ell' fait " non " gentiment
Ell' ne veut qu'un amant
" Et ce s'ra pour la vie " dit Praline
Le soir où je l'ai rencontrée
Ell' m'a fait un sourire et puis
On est aller danser
Après... j'peux pas vous l'dire
Depuis tout a changé nous sommes fiancés
Et la vie est jolie Ah! Praline
On va se marier c'est banal à pleurer
Mais c'est moi qui souris à Praline
A ma Praline
On the Champs Elysées
Her hair all in curls
She is fresh and pretty
It's Praline
watch her walk
She seems to dance
And at noon it's Praline
She is always well dressed
Looks like she's rich
Nice hat, heels, gloves,
She even has a poodle
Because she is a model
From velvet to satin
She spends the day,
it's Praline
An evening dress,
the black striped coat,
The wedding dress
It’s Praline
Eight hours all alone and tired
She returns home
Tomorrow we have to start again
She forgets that she is beautiful
On the Champs Elysées
Distinguished Gentlemen
Would do crazy things for Praline
She says "no" nicely
She only wants a true love
"one that will be for life"
said Praline
The night I met her
She gave me a smile
and then We went dancing
After ... I can't tell you
Since then, everything has changed
we are engaged
And life is pretty
ah! Praline
We are going to get married,
it's expected to cry
But me I smile at Praline
To my Praline
℗ 1951 Parlophone / Warner Music France, a Warner Music Group Company
Composer: Bob Astor
Composer: Eddie Constantine
Writer: Francois Jacques
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We start this episode with an examination of an iconic 20th-Century photograph: the black-and-white image of Gertrude Stein, seated in Pierre Balmain’s showroom, which was captured by the fashion photographer Horst for Vogue in 1946.
Maira Kalman, the celebrated author, illustrator and designer explains why she chose to recently paint her own version of this legendary image for her recent edition of “The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas.” Susanna Brown, who has curated some of the most impressive fashion photography exhibits at London’s V&A museum also joins the podcast to discuss that image, as well as some of the other photos that came out of that now-legendary Horst session for Vogue. Few people know more about Horst than Brown, who edited the V&A’s beautiful book on Horst and curated the museum’s 2014 show "Horst: Photographer of Style" —an international touring exhibit that showcased over 250 images drawn from Horst’s six-decade career. Brown expertly guides us through Horst’s fascinating life and career, explaining what makes the photographer’s work stand apart. She also discusses another of her favorite Horst-Balmain shootings, from among the many which took place over Horst’s long career at Vogue. Lynn Yaeger closes the episode’s discussion, with insights on why fashion magazines evolved from using mid-century illustrators,(like Gruau, who had a long history with Balmain) to today’s near-total dependence on photos.
This is the fourth of four l’Atelier Balmain episodes exploring the house’s first collection. Underlining how that first show introduced what Alice B Toklas defined as a “New French Style,” the four podcasts focus on Pierre Balmain's astounding success in overcoming the extremely difficult conditions, while also placing the spotlight on some of the many fashion and cultural icons who were part of the house’s earliest days and helped guarantee the success of the Paris fashion world’s first post-war star, Pierre Balmain.
The inherent joy of the legendary Horst photo of Stein seated in the Balmain showroom—this is an image that Kalman perfectly sums up as being one of “sheer giddy delight”—matched that of the young Pierre Balmain at this same moment. With the long war years finally over and his daring audacious gamble of his first collection having paid off, Pierre Balmain was sure that a better future lay ahead. That early house spirit was recently channeled by Olivier Rousteing for his Spring 2021 collection, with its focus on the beauty of travel and the message that better days lie ahead, soon, for all of us.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE SIX
A NEW FRENCH STYLE, PART 4: HORST, GRUAU AND ICONIC BALMAIN
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Special Podcast Guest: Susanna Brown
Special Podcast Guest: Maira Kalman
Special Podcast Guest: Lynn Yaeger
Music: “Fleur de Paris” by Josephine Baker
Additional Music: Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
To explore further:
The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein, Illustrated by Maira Kalman (Penguin 2020)
Horst Photographer Of Style; Susanna Brown (Victoria and Albert Museum)
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons, Doubleday, 1965
This Episode’s Music:
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes very clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
For this episode, we once again rely on a classic from Josephine Baker, who had a long relationship with Balmain. Baker offers us another version of “Fleur de Paris”—the same French post-war song that we played a few episodes ago—when we offered the Maurice Chevalier version for Episode Three.
The joy and pride that Josephine Baker feels as she sings is evident—and understandable. After all, Baker is a decorated French war hero—she actually fought for the French Resistance. And her post-Liberation excitement reflects the same optimistic confidence in the power of new beginnings that Pierre Balmain clearly shared with her.
C'est une fleur de chez nous
Elle a fleuri de partout
Car c'est la fleur du retour
Du retour des beaux jours
Pendant quatre ans dans nos cœurs
Elle a gardé ses couleurs
Bleu, blanc, rouge, elle était vraiment avant tout
Fleur de chez nous.
This is a flower from our home
She has blossomed everywhere
Because this is the flower of returning
Returning to better days
For four years, in our hearts
She held on to her colors
Blue, white, red—she remained before all others
The flower from our home
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Seated in the front row of the first Balmain show, alongside his friends Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, was the fascinating English Renaissance man, Cecil Beaton. The author and film director Lisa Immordino-Vreeland joins this episode of l’Atelier Balmain to discuss the fascinating life and work of Beaton. Immordino Vreeland, known for her prizewinning documentaries about some of the 20th-Century’s most talented forces in art, creation and fashion, recently focused on Beaton for her third film and second book—both titled Love Cecil—and she shares insights on his life, philosophy and creations with the podcast.
From the moment he saw his first Balmain designs, Cecil Beaton began forming an important connection to the house—in fact, almost immediately after that premiere show, Beaton began to promote the young Pierre Balmain to key members of London and Paris society. Lynn Yaeger returns to the podcast to discuss some of the English, French and American aristocratic and upper-class personalities who were quick to adopt Balmain’s fresh, feminine silhouette—and, just as one might expect, Yaeger is also happy to share the scandals and background stories connected to each of those colorful personalities.
While we explore how post-war society was quick to embrace Balmain, we also highlight how Olivier Rousteing cleverly appropriates society’s codes and signatures for today’s modern vision of luxury and class that speaks to our age — and the young, diverse and inclusive Balmain Army that Olivier Rousteing designs for today.
This is the third of four l’Atelier Balmain episodes exploring the house’s first collection. Underlining how that first Balmain show introduced what Alice B Toklas defined as a “New French Style,” the four podcasts focus on Pierre Balmain's astounding success in overcoming the extremely difficult conditions, while also placing the spotlight on some of the many fashion and cultural icons who were part of the house’s earliest days and helped guarantee the success of the Paris fashion world’s first post-war star, Pierre Balmain.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE FIVE
A NEW FRENCH STYLE, PART 3: BEATON, SOCIETY AND BALMAIN
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Special Podcast Guest: Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Special Podcast Guest: Lynn Yaeger
Music: Echoes of France (La Marseillaise) by Django Reinhardt
Additional Music: Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Macé
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
To explore further:
Love, Cecil—the documentary film and book by Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Film: Zeitgeist Films, 2017; Book: Abrams, 2017)
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons, Doubleday, 1965
This Episode’s Music:
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes very clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
For this podcast, we turn to the beautiful jazz of Django Reinhardt, playing one of his most moving creations throughout the episode. Jean Reinhardt—known to all by his Romani nickname Django—was France’s first major jazz artist—and, for many critics, he is simply Europe’s greatest jazz talent, ever. Two of his hits bookend the dark years of France’s occupation. The first, “Nuages” (Clouds), is one of his most famous compositions. Written after France’s defeat in 1940, it became for many a sort of unofficial Parisian anthem, signifying hopes for eventual freedom and liberation. Reinhardt, unlike many Romani, somehow managed to avoid the camps and horrors of that time—even after his plans to escape to Switzerland were thwarted by the Nazis, he was still able to return to Paris and continue playing. Most Romani, of course, were not so connected, talented and lucky. It’s estimated that over 600,000 Romani people were interned and killed during the Porajmos (the Nazi genocide of Romani people). So, we can easily understand why Reinhardt decided to mark the Liberation with this now iconic, celebratory and joyful jazz version of “La Marseillaise,” France’s national anthem. At that same time, remembering the great and tragic losses, he composed a moving requiem mass for the victims of the Romani genocide, entitled “Requiem à mes frères tsiganes.”
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Maira Kalman, the celebrated author, illustrator and designer joins the l’Atelier Balmain podcast for episode four. Kalman who oversaw 2020’s critically praised and colorful re-edition of Gertrude Stein’s best-selling “Autobiography of Alice B Toklas,” discusses the incredible literary and artistic legacy of Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas. Pierre Balmain shared a deep friendship with the couple, and he was very devoted to his pair of “American Mothers”—which is why Gertrude Stein, Alice B Toklas, along with their famous white poodle, Basket, were seated front and center at Pierre Balmain’s first show.
This is the second of four episodes concentrating on the fascinating moments and personalities that played a part in the incredible story of the 1945 birth of the house of Balmain. The group of four episodes, taking its name from Alice B Toklas’ famous summation of Pierre Balmain’s first collection—A New French Style—turns to some of today’s leading writers, documentary film makers, museum curators and fashion writers for unique insights on Paris post-war style and challenges, Pierre Balmain’s fresh new style, iconic images of Balmain designs and some of the legendary personalities seated in the front row of that first house presentation.
At each step, we’ll also make clear how Olivier Rousteing continues to build upon the firm foundations that Pierre Balmain established, 75 years ago.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE FOUR
A NEW FRENCH STYLE, PART 2: GERTRUDE, ALICE AND PIERRE
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Special Podcast Guest: Maira Kalman
Music: J’ai Deux Amours — Josephine Baker
Additional Music: Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Direction and Production: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by John Gilligan
To explore further:
The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas; By Gertrude Stein, Illustrated by Maira Kalman (Penguin 2020)
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons (Doubleday, 1965)
This Episode’s Music:
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
And, for an episode concentrating on some of the many amazing expatriates who transformed both the life of Paris and the history of art—what could be a more perfect song that the classic 'J'ai Deux Amours' from Josephine Baker?
Josephine Baker, immortalized by Picasso and described by Ernest Hemingway as "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw,” led an amazing life of art, resistance and engagement—and the house of Balmain is incredibly proud of its long association with the French legend.
Baker—born Freda Josephine McDonald in East Saint Louis—first sang this love song to her adopted home of Paris in the ‘30s, and she sang many versions of it over the many following decades.
Most versions being with the lines: “On dit qu'au-delà des mers. Là-bas sous le ciel clair. Il existe une cité. Au séjour enchanté. Et sous les grands arbres noirs. Chaque soir. Vers elle s'en va tout mon espoir. " ("They say that beyond the seas. Over there under the clear sky. There is a city. In the enchanted land. And under the great black trees. Every evening. All my hope goes towards her.") This city, beyond the seas, is the city of light that welcomed and embraced Josephine Baker—as well as so many other refuges, artists and intellectuals—drawn to creativity and freedom that helped set Paris apart during the era of Josephine, Alice, Gertrude and all those amazing talents who visited that famous salon on rue de Fleurus.
J'ai deux amours. Mon pays et Paris. Par eux toujours. Mon cœur est ravi.
I have two loves. My country and Paris. For them always. My heart is filled with delight.
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Pierre Balmain’s life changed radically on October 12th, 1945. That was the date that the young designer chose to schedule his house’s first couture presentation to the public, held inside the salon of his new headquarters at 44, rue de François Premier, in the center of Paris’ famed “Golden Triangle” luxury neighborhood.
With the help of the award-winning fashion journalist Lynn Yaeger, this episode places the beginnings of the house in context, examining the hardships, challenges and shortages of a newly liberated Paris and focusing on what Pierre Balmain was later to sum up as his “miracle”—the startling triumph of that first couture collection, which the young designer managed to somehow pull-off, in spite of the daunting odds that were stacked against him.
This is the first of four l’Atelier Balmain episodes exploring the house’s first collection. Underlining how that first Balmain show introduced what Alice B Toklas defined as a “New French Style,” the four podcasts focus on Pierre Balmain's astounding success in overcoming the extremely difficult conditions, while also placing the spotlight on some of the many fashion and cultural icons who were part of the house’s earliest days and helped guarantee the success of the Paris fashion world’s first post-war star, Pierre Balmain.
At each step, we’ll also make clear how Olivier Rousteing continues to build upon the firm foundations that Pierre Balmain established, 75 years ago.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE THREE
A NEW FRENCH STYLE, PART 1: THE MIRACLE
Balmain Creative Director : Olivier Rousteing
Special Podcast Guest: Lynn Yaeger
Music : "Fleur de Paris" by Maurice Chevalier
Additional music : Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Directed and Produced by : Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian : Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination : Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance : Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity : Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by : John Gilligan
To explore further:
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons, Doubleday, 1965
This Episode’s Music:
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
This episode turns to a popular French song from the era of the establishment of Pierre Balmain’s house. “Fleur de Paris”—The Parisian Flower—plays throughout this episode. That song was written right after Paris’ liberation and it clearly reflects the new optimism of the moment. The famous crooner Maurice Chevalier made the song a hit, and its message of hope was hard to miss, with Chevalier singing about a special blue-white-and-red flower that Parisians had kept to themselves for four long years—locked up and hidden away—in the hopes that someday better days would come. Finally, the lyrics proclaimed, better days were returning, and it was time to celebrate a new dawn, new beginnings and a new blossoming of the beautiful “Fleur de Paris.”
C'est une fleur de Paris,
Du vieux Paris qui sourit,
Car c'est la fleur du retour,
Du retour des beaux jours.
Pendant quatre ans dans nos coeurs
Elle a gardé ses couleurs,
Bleu, Blanc, Rouge,
Avec l'espoir elle a fleuri,
Fleur de Paris.
It’s a Parisian flower
From the old Paris that smiles
Because it is the flower of returning
The return of better days
For four years, in our hearts
She has kept her colors:
Blue, white and red
She has now bloomed, with hope
That Parisian flower
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From a musical péniche gliding through the center of Paris to under-the-star runways dedicated to virtual show attendees, Olivier Rousteing has overseen a series of innovative solutions, in order to present his vision of Balmain’s distinctive optimism and heritage during 2020’s long months of lockdowns and worries. This second episode of l’Atelier Balmain explores Olivier Rousteing’s dedication to adapting Pierre Balmain impressive legacy for today’s generation.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE TWO
A SINGULAR HERITAGE
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Music: “Noir” by Yseult - Artist: Yseult Composers: Yseult, Ziggy Franzen, Romain Descampe Label: Believe Music (on behalf of naïve/Y.Y.Y); Sony ATV Publishing, and 1 Music Rights Societies
Additional music: Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Directed and Produced by: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Macé
Episode researched, written and presented by: John Gilligan
To explore further:
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons, Doubleday, 1965
This Episode’s Music:
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
In February 2021, Olivier Rousteing and the entire Balmain team were thrilled to see Yseult acclaimed as France’s best new talent of the year, during the ceremony of the Victoires de la Musique (the French equivalent of the Grammys). Seven months earlier, Yseult had cruised through a sunny Paris atop a reconfigured peniche—alongside Olivier Rousteing and his models and dancers— singing her beautiful compositions during the Balmain-Sur-Seine presentation.
Yseult is known for giving her own modern take on the classic style of the “variété française.” “I grew up listening to Edith Piaf, Barbara, Jacques Brel, Lara Fabian, Patricia Kaas,” she explained to the Guardian after her Victoires win. “The pared-down French classicism of their songs was what I always wanted my own music to be about.”
To that signature Parisian sound, Yseult makes sure to add her strong, modern and engaged voice, calling for true racial equality and body positivism. A year ago, she released the song “Noir,” which you hear in the background of this episode. Once again beginning with the iconic voice-piano mix of French classic songs, Yseult manages to go much deeper—as she always does—celebrating her own beauty, while recalling daily struggles.
In his press release for the Balmain-Sur-Seine presentation, Olivier Rousteing discussed how 2020’s tragic events of racial violence had deeply moved him—and how he had managed to find hope in the impressive popular responses that we all witnessed—once which filled the streets both in France and America. “These renewed calls for justice and equality—heard on streets all across the world today—are in reaction to tragic losses, but their growing strength and force allow us to dream of the possibilities of long-delayed changes, pushed forward by a newly energized and impressive mix of young, determined and diverse voices.”
And Rousting’s belief that progress is possible was clearly echoed in each and every one of the songs and dances selected for the Balmain-sur-Seine moment.
Casser les codes ouais, ouais, toute ma life ouais, ouais
Tracer ma route ouais, ouais, toute ma life ouais, ouais
Noir et fière de l'être, ça, c'est toute ma life, ya, ya, ya
Tout est noir, tout est noir
Dans ma vie que tout est noir
Serrer les dents, toute ma life, tout est noir dans ma life
Serrer les dents, toute ma life
Toute ma life
Toute ma life
Toute ma life
Break the codes yeah, yeah, all my life yeah, yeah
Make my way yeah, yeah, all my life yeah, yeah
Black and proud of it, that's my whole life, ya, ya, ya
Everything is black, everything is black
In my life that everything is black
Grit my teeth, all my life, everything is black in my life
Grit my teeth, all my life
All my life
All my life
All my life
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The 1919 vaudeville hit, “How Ya Gonna To Keep ‘Em Down On The Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree?)” may be simple, silly, and with a title that is way too long—but at its core, it holds one enduring truth: the lure of Paris is just sometimes too strong to be resisted. For this premiere episode of l’Atelier Balmain, we explore the paths of two provincials—Pierre Balmain, from Saint Jean de Maurienne in the French Alps, and Olivier Rousteing, from Bordeaux in the southwest of France—who were both drawn to the French Capital as young men, with both eventually rising to oversee the collections at Balmain, as they transformed themselves into true Parisians.
Learn more on Balmain.com
CREDITS L’ATELIER BALMAIN EPISODE ONE
HOW YA GONNA KEEP ‘EM DOWN ON THE FARM?
Balmain Creative Director: Olivier Rousteing
Music:
Marseillaise
"How You Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm After They’ve Seen Paree?" by Eddie Cantor
Extrait : INA broadcasts of Pierre Balmain
Additional music: Jean-Michel Derain
Episode Directed and Produced by: Seb Lascoux
Balmain Historian: Julia Guillon
Episode Coordination: Alya Nazaraly
Research Assistance: Fatoumata Conte and Pénélope André
Digital Coordination/Graphic Identity: Jeremy Mace
Episode researched, written and presented by: John Gilligan
Podcast Webpage layout and text: John Gilligan
To explore further:
The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein, Illustrated by Maira Kalman (Penguin 2020)
Horst Photographer Of Style; Susanna Brown (Victoria and Albert Museum)
Pierre Balmain’s Autobiography: My Years and Seasons, Doubleday, 1965
This Episode’s Music
Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, makes clear—collection after collection—that he believes that fashion can never be separated from music. Inspired by Rousteing, each l’Atelier Balmain podcast carefully selects artists and music that reflect and strengthen the story being told.
More than 100 years ago, way back in 1919, one of America’s biggest musical hits was a short little ditty with a very long title: How You Going To Keep Them Down On The Farm After They’ve Seen Paree? It was just a simple and very silly tune—but the truth is, it reflected some significant changes that were taking place in the country at that time, as well as an enduring truth that we can easily understand today.
World War I had just ended—and the costs of that war had been incredible. After all that pain and all that sacrifice, American popular culture seemed eager to turn the page, to quickly switch the focus to lighter and more carefree subjects. For example, instead of focusing on the soldiers’ suffering, this song focused on what the young men had seen over there—sights that many of them could never have imagined earlier. Paris, for example. The city was a complete contrast to what many of those young boys were used to. It was open. Exhilarating. Filled with beauty, inspiration and creativity. Seriously—how could anyone expect those young soldiers to be satisfied with returning to their past lives in small towns and isolated farms after having had an injection of the beauty, elegance and excitement of The City of Lights?
And all of us—immediately—we get it. The song title says it all. Really… How the hell do you think you’re going to keep them down on the farm after Paris? It’s an age-old, often-repeated question. And it’s definitely not only the Americans who have been asking it. Anybody who has ever visited the city can easily understand. Paris, with its famous avenues, impressive architecture and beautiful elegance, has held an almost magnetic attraction for centuries. And, perhaps most notably, it has always been a favorite destination of artists and other creative talents—those who often find it very tough to leave, once they realize just how inspiring the surroundings can be.
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa
He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA!
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'?
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