Balmain (fashion house)
Balmain or the Pierre Balmain S. A. is founded in 1945 by the French couturier Pierre Balmain fashion house based in Paris.
Especially in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the house of Balmain, since 1947, also offers perfume, with elegant haute couture for women in addition to Dior and Jacques Fath of the leading international fashion company of upscale Parisian fashion. After the sale of the company by Pierre Balmain in 1977 and less successful periods in the 1980s Balmain belongs since 1995 to a French investor group and was close to bankruptcy in 2004. Only since 2006, the house Balmain, which produces since 1982 high-priced ready- to-wear fashion for men and since 1986 with interruptions also applies for men, world again as trend-setting and coveted fashion brand in the upper price segment. The haute couture fashion from Balmain was presented in 2003 to the time last time and adjusted during the restructuring in 2004.
Company History
Business creation and flowering time
After a fashion training at Edward Molyneux and activities for other Parisian fashion company Frenchman Pierre Balmain founded (1914-1982) in the fall of 1945, the Pierre Balmain brand and opened his own fashion atelier for haute couture in the 44, Rue François 1er, near the Avenue des Champs- Élysées in Paris. On 12 October 1945 he presented his first collection. Balmain, who had a few semesters studied architecture from 1933, was in consequence of a reputation for elegant, detailed designed evening gowns and could rapidly achieve great success with its figure-hugging designs. In the following decades, the Balmain house for refined, often with complex and yet discreet embroidery ornaments provided feminine women's fashion upscale segment and embodied together with Christian Dior and Jacques Fath the epitome of Parisian haute couture. Together with Christian Dior Pierre Balmain had worked before the Second World War at the Paris couturier Lucien Lelong.
Typical of Balmain fashion were in a row next to simple, elegant and at the same time imposing evening dresses the use of fur ornaments, tweed ensembles as well as stoles, scarves, or ruffles as accessories. Among the prominent clients of the house Balmain were at this time Queen Sirikitvon Thailand, the Queen of Yugoslavia, the Duchess of Windsor, Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Hildegard Knef or Lilli Palmer. Even today high prices with vintage models from this period that are supported for example by Penelope Cruz, Angelina Jolie or Kate Moss, achieved. Through a personal friendship with the American writer Gertrude Stein and their circle of acquaintances Balmain was still opened the U.S. market in the 1940s.
1946, the first women's perfume from the house of Balmain under the name Elysee was 64-83 ( 64-83 was the phone number of the studio ), launched. Other fragrances, including classics such as Monsieur Balmain for men ( 1949), Jolie Madame (1953 ) or Ivoire ( 1980), followed. 1960 Balmain sold the lucrative perfume business to the American cosmetics company Revlon. 1947 was Pierre Balmain with his creations on a world tour that took him to Australia, among others. 1949 Balmain boutique in New York City was opened with fashion clothing exclusively for the U.S. market. His great success in the U.S. was to implement the French chic into something larger sizes for American women. 1954 Balmain opened a business in Venezuela. Over the years, numerous designers have worked as an assistant at Balmain, including Gerard Pipart from 1948, John Cavanagh 1947-1951 or Karl Lagerfeld array of 1955 until 1958. Lagerfeld had attended a fashion contest, sat for the Pierre Balmain in the jury. Lagerfeld's draft Ladies wool coat walked in Balmain in series and he was hired as a designer.
Pierre Balmain also designed theater and film costumes. 1951 was Marlene Dietrich in The journey into the unknown Balmain. 1952 equipped Balmain Katharine Hepburn in the play The Millionairess from 1955 Vivien Leigh in the movie The Deep Blue Sea as well as in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone ( 1961). Sophia Loren and Natalie Wood also appeared in Balmain on the canvas. From the late 1960s, lost the house Balmain, which was further reacted in times of social upheaval with an elegant and conservative women's fashion in conjunction, but increasing influence.
1965 equipped Balmain flying personnel of the TWA with uniforms from 1972 and the cabin crew of Singapore Airlines. 1985, the French police were equipped with uniforms Balmain, 1990, the French armed forces, and in 1994 the Euro - Star staff.
Changeable years
1977 Pierre Balmain sold his company after less successful years at the French knitwear manufacturer Montagut, but stayed on as chief designer in the group. CEO and majority shareholder was the Frenchman and Montagut - founder Leo Gros ( 1921-2003 ). After Pierre Balmain's death in 1982, initially designed - according to Balmain Testament - his Danish assistant since 1948 and life partner, Erik Mortensen, the haute couture collection of the house. 1982 prêt -à -porter line for women was introduced worldwide. From the 1980s the house Balmain has had to put up a fight against enhanced brand pirates and their Balmain fakes from Asia.
The company Balmain changed in the 1980s and 1990s, several owners. 1986 acquired the Canadian investment group Zanimob (Produits Parfums et Cosmetiques Universels ) from Montréal to the businessman Erich Fayer with two other investors, the majority of Balmain and also bought the perfume business by Revlon back. In the late 1980s, early 1990s, the image of Balmain was Zanimob through countless licensing in various product segments, including men's fashion and champagne, basic and Balmain lost the reputation of an exclusive haute couture brand. 1989 bought the former LVMH boss Alain Chevalier, the company Balmain for 550 million francs had to sell back in 1991 but due to poor sales and high losses of Zanimob.
On Erik Mortensen, who had continued the collections in Pierre Balmain's style and left the company in 1990, followed as chief designer of haute couture division at Balmain from 1990 to 1993 is still set by Mortensen Hervé Pierre Braillard and from 1993 to 2002, the American star designer Oscar de la Renta and last for a season in 2003, the Frenchman Laurent Mercier. Under de la Renta, who was also responsible for the clothing collection for several seasons, and its elegant designs in the style of Pierre Balmain's the house Balmain experienced a renaissance. The chief designer of prêt-à- porter fashion from Balmain have over the years often replaced Peggy Huyn - Kinh ( 1980 ), Alistair Blair ( only 1990), Hervé Pierre Braillard ( 1990-1993, also Haute Couture ) Oscar de la Renta ( 1993-1996, also haute couture ), Andrew Gn ( 1997-1998 ), Gilles Dufour - a former Chanel designer and Lagerfeld confidant - ( 1998-2000 ), Laurent Mercier ( from 2001 to 2003, even haute couture ) and Christophe Lebourg ( 2003-2004 ). In 1994, under the designer Bernard Sanz, previously had worked for Yves Saint Laurent designed a menswear collection in Paris after it had been under the Canadian leadership as early as 1986 with the designer Patrick Aubert license menswear under the name Balmain. The Balmain menswear was temporarily abandoned in the late 1990s.
Since 1995, the fashion house an investor group led by Frenchman Jean Lecendreux who installed his compatriot Alain Hivelin as PDG at Balmain. In July 2003 and January 2004 Balmain did not take part in Paris at the haute couture fashion shows. In May 2004, the company had to step in the protection against creditors for two years due to impending insolvency as part of a reorganization. In summer 2004 it was announced that Balmain gives the haute couture division. The most recent Haute Couture Fashion Show Balmain took place in late January 2003 under the leadership of then- chief designer Laurent Mercier.
New beginning from 2006
As of February 2006 the house Balmain was after turbulent times, and two -year absence from the catwalks again extremely successful prêt-à- porter collections, created by the end of 2005, set designer Christophe Decarnin former Paco Rabanne. Hallmarks of the new Balmain women's fashion were bulky shoulder pads, golden zippers, rhinestone applications, narrow cuts, full of holes substances and military influences. Balmain turned into the fashionable ' It- label', the 'Rock Star Chic " sparked a true" Balmania " from that sale prices were in the top segment and revenues grew annually by 50%. Even Michael Jackson wore in this period Balmain fashion, although this was actually intended for ladies. For the Paris Menswear shows in the fall of 2008, it was speculated that Balmain would present a men's collection again after many years. Decarnin showed his first menswear collection for the house of Balmain in the spring of 2009 in Paris for the Autumn / Winter season 2009-10 with slim silhouettes, black leather jackets, ripped jeans, frayed shirt collars and perforated T -shirts. Since then, the men's fashion from Balmain is offered twice a year.
Decarnin left the house Balmain in spring 2011., As his successor, the former Roberto Cavalli designer Olivier Rousteing was determined shortly thereafter, who worked as a womenswear designer for Balmain since 2009. Mid-2011 was licensed collaboration with Ittierre for Spring / Summer 2012, the less price- intensive second-line Pierre Balmain ( the working title Blue Balmain had been discarded) for men and women launched in charge of the Italian design team draws. The licensing agreement with Ittiere Balmain announced the end of 2013 and since then takes care of itself to the second line.
Others
In Stock and hair care cosmetics, hair pieces and extensions will be offered under the name of Balmain since 1975. Musically Balmain was with the text line "Your clothes are all made by Balmain " (Eng.: Your clothes are all made by Balmain ') in the title Where do you go to my lovely? Immortalized (1969 ) by Peter Sarstedt.