Luxury brand, Balmain aimed to reveal their new collection for Paris fashion week until it was heartbreakingly revealed that over fifty pieces were stolen.
Balmain’s artistic director, Olivier Roustein took to his Instagram of 9.8 million followers to share the devastating news:
“Today I went into the office at 9am waiting for the last pieces for our show, our Balmain show in September. I was starting to create some looks with my team and our driver called us and said that he was hijacked by a group of people.”
More than 50 Balmain pieces stolen. He was driving from the airport to the Balmain headquarter. This is so unfair. My team and I worked so hard. We will work more, days and nights, our suppliers will work days and night as well but this is so disrespectful. I wanted to share this with you to remind you, don’t take anything for guaranteed and please be safe. This is the world we are living in.”
Roustein also reported that the truck driver was safe despite the hijacking.
The brand was set to showcase the garments for the Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2024 show later this month alongside presentations from high-end fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel and Hermès.
The news was a shock and horror for lovers of Balmain and fellow fashion industry designers.
Donatella Versace shared her support for the brand and Roustein, commenting on his Instagram post: “Sending you all my love. I know that you and your creativity will be able to overcome this!”
Models such as Linda Evangelista also offered their support and sympathy for the incident, writing, “Awful. Sending you love.”
A spokesperson for Balmain told Reuters that the Paris show is still going ahead as per the plan. There are no further comments regarding a pending investigation.
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