Pierre Balmain
Pierre Balmain founded this iconic French fashion house in 1945 in what must have been a tumultuous year to say the least. After gathering years of experience working at his mother’s fashion boutique in Paris, Pierre soon began making a name for himself. He was dubbed “a king of French fashion” and began to garner international interest.
His style was sleek and safe and he was noted as saying, “Good fashion is evolution, not revolution”. Since he died in 1982, the brand Balmain has gone through several creative attempts but nothing stuck quite as well as Olivier Rousteing’s direction starting in 2011. He went for the revolutionary, rather than the evolutionary, and achieved an almost rockstar aura for the brand in the process.
Balmain is aimed at those looking to subvert and to create trouble, in a positive sense. The eyewear on offer is unapologetically bold while holding on to some of that Parisian chic that the brand is built on. You’ll find strong and light materials woven together, classic and futuristic elements on both sides of the hinges, and enough originality to turn heads.