H&M to Launch Balmain Collaboration for Fall

Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M will launch a fall collection in collaboration with the French luxury brand Balmain and its creative director Olivier Rousteing.

The collection, which will include menswear and women’s wear, will launch November 5, 2015 online and in 250 H&M stores.

Rousteing appeared with model Jourdan Dunn and wealthy teenager Kendall Jenner at the Billboard Music Awards to show pieces of the collection.

“I want to talk to my generation: this is my main aim as a designer,” said the 29-year-old designer in a statement. “The collaboration felt extremely natural to me: H&M is a brand that everybody connects to. It calls for unity, and I am all for it.”

“We are excited to have Balmain as our guest designer at H&M and create a truly involving experience for everybody,” added H&M’s Ann-Sofie Johansson. “With its mix of couture spirit and streetwear attitude, Balmain owns a unique style, at once opulent and direct, sensual and energetic. It is also closely linked to the show business and music worlds, which adds another element of surprise.”

Balmain was founded in Paris in 1945 by Pierre Balmain, who helmed the brand until his death in 1982. Oscar de la Renta designed for Balmain between 1993 and 2002. The brand went bankrupt and was resurrected in 2005; it shot up in popularity around 2008. Rousteing joined the brand in 2009 and became creative director in 2011.