“Yoo-hoo! We’re up here in the fire escape.”
On Thursday night, the Balmain Army had a small yet captive audience perched above Monsieur, Baz Luhrmann’s new bar in the East Village. The fire escape crowd watched as Bentley after Bentley pulled up in front of the theatrical venue, and as Balmain after Balmain look stepped out.
“Everyone’s looking so fabulous,” the commentator called out, as Jeremy O’Harris posed for photos in front of the medieval-themed venue.
Creative director Olivier Rousteing, Stateside this week, had gathered an intimate group of the house’s friend collective for a celebratory dinner. Guests included Brooke Shields and Helena Christensen, who chatted at the far end of the bar; “Ginny & Georgia” star Antonia Gentry; Jodie Turner-Smith, and Pom Klementieff, who made sure to offer photographers a clear shot of her Balmain clutch. The dinner marked the recent launch of Balmain’s new buckled Anthem bag, with different iterations modeled on guests throughout the room.
Pom Klementieff
Lexie Moreland/WWD
“White Lotus” star Leslie Bibb was at the dinner a few weeks after attending Balmain’s fall 2025 runway show. It was Bibb’s first fashion show, which she described as “breathtaking” and “a whirlwind.”
“It just really took my breath — and it was magical to be in Paris,” she said, adding that the experience defied stereotypes about the fashion industry. “[You fear] you’re not gonna be cool enough, or you’re gonna say the wrong thing,” she said. “[But] it’s beautiful and warm and inviting, and you have real conversations,” she added. “I just felt spiritually full.”
Bibb was headed to Australia the next day for a four-day press trip, as the April 6 season finale draws closer. “I’m just holding on and saying yes and enjoying the ride. This is a magical time, and it’s really awesome,” she said. “Everyone is so invested. I knew it was a big show — I didn’t understand the juggernaut of it. Maybe because it’s a show that comes out once a week, [audiences] are really connected to it, they think about it, they marinate in it, they have theories. They’re so smart and they pick up on all the things.”
Rousteing held court throughout cocktail hour, looking relaxed after a week of hosting events in Los Angeles and New York for the brand’s loyal clients. “America has always been really supportive from the beginning of my career,” Rousteing said as the crowd started to sit for dinner. “ It feels like my fashion hometown here.”
The designer will be back in New York in a little more than a month for the Met Gala. “I think you can expect a lot of creativity from the brand and from me, and you can expect a lot of respect and love for the theme,” Rousteing said of his design approach for “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
“Being a Black designer in 2025, I’m proud. I’m really, really proud,” he said. “But I hope only that in the next 50 or 70 years I can just be an example for the next generation in the future to say, ‘oh, he made it? I can make it,’ and the fashion industry opens the doors to diversity.”
The creative director, who’s been at the helm of the French label for the past 14 years, added that he’s excited about continuing to pursue a “new era” for the brand, rooted in Balmain’s core identity.
“I’m sure you have seen all those changes happening around the world and around the fashion houses,” he said. “But sticking to one direction, one vision, evolving, changing, but still remaining true to who you are, is something that’s really important. And my loyalty to the brand is something that I’m proud of — and the loyalty of the brand toward me is something that I’m proud of as well.”
