New store opening: Luxury fashion house Balmain coming to London

Followers of the #balmainarmy will be delighted to hear that the luxury French fashion house is set to open their first flagship store in London. The store will open in Mayfair on South Audley street. An exact date is yet to be set, but we can expect high glamour and copious amounts of French elegance.
Olivier Rousteing, head designer of the brand, told Vogue today that "London is a very important city for Balmain, we have always had a very loyal clientele so it all came very naturally." He added that "opening Balmain's first European flagship was quite an obvious choice for the house and Mayfair was the most ideal location for Balmain. South Audley Street is definitely a new shopping destination in the city and Balmain is very happy to be one the first houses to settle there."
The brand has employed Joseph Dirand, the architect who oversaw the Paris flagship 2009 transformation, to give the London store a healthy dose of french chic.
Rousteing arrived at Balmain in 2011, aged only 25, and replaced Christophe Decarnin as creative director. Under Rousteing's direction the brand has gone from strength to strength, pushing the sexy couture feel of the brand whilst retaining the memory of Decarnin's rock 'n' roll transformation.

What	New store opening: Luxury fashion house Balmain coming to London
Where	TBC, tbc, london, tbc \| MAP
Nearest tube	Hyde Park Corner (underground)
When	01 Jan 15 – 01 May 15, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Price	£n/a
Website	http://www.balmain.com/en_uk/

Interview with Olivier Rousteing

Olivier, what role does sex play in your creative process as a fashion designer?

I think sex is really important because there is a lot to play with when you have sex on your mind. It’s something that has no limit and no boundaries. And what is cool about sex is that it’s all about some kind of fantasy. When I create clothes for a girl, in my mind I always think about what I would want if I were the girl or if I would love to have sex with her. So it’s really something where I play different roles and I kind of like that.

Is it easy for you to imagine yourself as a girl?

Sometimes I’m going too far away because I’m not a girl, so I do something I would love to wear if I were a girl and the girls at my studio are like, “It’s maybe too much.” Where I’m like, “It’s never too much.” After my first show somebody asked me “Does your girl have sex on the first night?” And I said she can’t because the dress is so complicated. It’s so difficult and so heavy. So actually I think when you wear Balmain you can’t have sex that fast, even though everybody thinks like that.

Was it difficult for you to learn to trust your own opinion?

My first show was the least stressed show ever. Because you don’t know what to expect. My first show I was like a little kid playing with dolls in a way. Just being like, “Oh my god, I’m going to do a fashion show, I’m going to do a fashion show!” And obviously after you realize what business is, you realize what is important to the business and to make sure that you keep your buyers, that you grow the company.