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*ad_fad; Balmain F/W 2016
Hello darlings and Happy Saturday!
“I would love to create a campaign around your music, your lyrics, and your aesthetic.”
These were the words spoken by Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, to the prodigious and ever controversial, Kanye West.
Thus, from the marriage of these two minds, West’s new MV “Wolves” and Balmain’s FW16 campaign was born.
While fashion and music are not-so-distant relatives, both creative outputs and means for social commentary, a music video campaign has ne’er been attempted (although credit must be given to Tom Ford for his SS16 music video/runway show hybrid).
The pairing of minds is not as surprising as Rousteing openly speaks of his admiration for the Kardashian-West clan and has worked with them previously (see Balmain’s Spring 2015 menswear ads and the BalmainxYeezy collaboration worn by the Kardashian-Jenner family to the Yeezy Season 3 show during NYFW earlier this year).
I mean, it only makes sense for such social-media powerhouses to join forces, no?
The campaign hits all the right notes. It is moody and sensual, and ominously artsy, a perfect merging of the two creative aesthetics.
And the clothing looks spectacular! While it wasn’t one of my favorite collections shown in February, this endeavor certainly will have the masses talking!
Maybe Rousteing, who always has his ear to the ground to tap into social trends has started one of his own?
Enjoy!
xx
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