The house of Balmain is in new hands, but fans of Christophe Decarnin s moto-roué look won t be disappointed by the first collection from his former assistant Olivier Rousteing. Whether Rousteing stages a farther departure from his boss example in women s remains to be seen, but for menswear, he hewed close. Trim tux jackets (slightly longer than usual), paneled biker jeans, and leather jackets will always have a place here. New this season is a range of pieces in pastel: tees, scarves, and even those biker jeans now come in ice cream colors (lemon, mint, and orange), mottled to look sun-bleached. Also new: swimwear, printed denim (in an abstract feather pattern that will also figure in the women s Resort collection), and a boxy new jacket shape, shorter and shorn of its lapels.
But all in all, this was a continuation, not a break. Maybe you could see the student stepping away from the teacher in the way he snipped off sleeves from jackets (tuxedo and denim), open-weave knits, and polos. Then again, maybe that s just a summertime concession; even the cool Balmain homme can get hot. The luxe, at least, remained ever apparent; a motorcycle vest in full python saw to that. So did a shawl-collared jacket in croc, for the man who has everything but his own game preserve.
