confirming rumours, olivier rousteing has been named as the new designer for balmain replacing christophe decarnin. rousteing joined balmain in 2009 & is in charge of women's wear. he previously had a 5 year run at roberto cavalli. decarnin has reportedly been absent from the label since the beginning of the year & failed to appear at the fall 2011 show in paris. rumours floated around that decarnin had been admitted to a mental hospital but there are also whispers that he left due to strategic disputes with chairman alain hivelin.
time will tell if the loss of decarnin will adversely affect the brand's sales. bergdorf goodman recently made the label available online. claudine barbabe who buys balmain for her paris store l'espionne felt the changes with decarnin's pre-fall collection - "there was no rock 'n' roll on the runway in march," she said "i bought the collection anyway because you don't punch someone when they're down, but i was very disappointed." marcelo maquieira, the buyer for ennu in amsterdam, said he doubts his customer know decarnin's name. "if the brand continues to give them what they want - status & sex appeal - then they don't care who the designer is."