French Label Balmain Makes A Music Video with Supermodel Abbey Lee
As Paris Fashion Week kicks off, French label Balmain is turning up the hype for the October 2nd runway debut of their first ever diffusion line, Pierre Balmain. They’ve released a music video collaboration with Australian supermodel Abbey Lee, and her rock band, Our Mountain. Balmain, a label unabashedly influenced by rock & roll excess and 80s-era Prince silhouettes (think majorly embellished military jackets, a ton of python and leather), is popular with musicians including Madonna, Rihanna, and Kanye West (who once professed his desire to tour exclusively in a wardrobe from the label). After former creative director Christophe Decarnin resigned from the label this spring, Balmain hired 25-year-old designer Olivier Rousteing to take over; Spring 2012 represents both his first main line offering for the house, as well as its first collection of more affordably priced items.
Directed by Inez and Vinoodh, who also work closely with Lady Gaga and her stylist Nicola Formichetti, the three part video for the Our Mountain track “Devil’s Banquet” offers a preview of the luxe and edgy “basics” the Pierre Balmain women’s and men’s collections will offer. Lee and her boyfriend, frontman Matthew Hutchinson, are ideal ambassadors for the insouciant cool of the brand’s downtown aesthetic.
In the first segment, out today, we get a whirlwind glimpse at Our Mountain as Manhattan troubadours – a band in well-fitting leathers and denim that can play sleazy joints by night and glow radiantly by day. Lee commands the majority of the attention in this clip, though the next vignette, due Friday, allows Hutchinson to take center stage. The final chapter and premiere of the complete clip will accompany the Pierre Balmain presentation this coming Sunday, where musicians, on the screen, on the runway, and in the front row, will surely be in vast supply.
Watch Part One of the “Devil’s Banquet” video:
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