Fashion

Balmain has opened its first Malaysian flagship store in KL

01.10.2021

By Rachel Au

Balmain has opened its first Malaysian flagship store in KL

Fans of Balmain will no longer need to count down the days they can travel to Europe to shop from their favourite Parisian couture house. Amidst Paris Fashion Week for SS22 and creative director Olivier Rousteing celebrating his 10th anniversary with the brand, Balmain has just opened its first Malaysian flagship in Kuala Lumpur too.

“Recently, we’ve celebrated some significant anniversaries at Balmain,” notes Rousteing. “75 years ago, Pierre Balmain presented the very first collection for his new couture house. And I’ve also just marked my own ten-year anniversary as the house’s Creative Director. Sure, many things may have changed over the years—but it’s clear that the essential has always remained the same. For example, ever since Pierre Balmain’s earliest days, we’ve been dedicated to bringing our singular vision of a ‘New French Style’ to every part of the globe. In fact, one of the first things that our founder did—beginning almost immediately after his first show—was to jet off to cities in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia, with the aim of introducing his original vision and fresh, feminine silhouettes to followers all over the world.”

The new 1,745-square-foot boutique is located within The Starhill where every inch of the interior has been conceived by Rousteing and three young architects from Paris’ Studio AMV. The Malaysian flagship is distinctively Balmain, with shiny parquet flooring complemented by floor-to-ceiling white walls with classic elements and decorative trim, fixtures of matte black and gold finish, wooden and black marble furnishings and more.

“Our brainstorming sessions began with a consensus on the need to riff on the classic Parisian residential architecture,” explains Rousteing. “From there, we ended up exploring the codes of the city’s famous hotels particuliers. Since I want every store visit to offer experience, intimacy and discovery, we divided the interior into a series of connected, distinct spaces, each inspired by the look of a room within a hotel particulier (library, garden, salon de jeux, boudoir, etc), and with each of these spaces dedicated to the display of just one specific part of the Balmain universe — from luxury accessories to seasonal ready-to-wear offerings.”

Interior marvels aside, the Balmain Malaysian flagship has brought in plenty of the latest offerings from the house—from the freshest items off the runways (for both men and women) to limited-edition collaborations to the brand’s expanding selection of luxury bags. The most evident one of them all would be the pieces carrying Balmain’s historic and hypnotising Labyrinth pattern, reimagined by Rousteing.

“Of course, I know that Kuala Lumpur’s large ‘Balmain Army’ is already very familiar with the designs that we show on our Paris runway each season—which is why I am thrilled to know that, going forward, we will be able to display a more extensive selection, pulled from all our latest collections, to that city’s discerning lovers of fashion,” adds Rousteing.

The cherry on top? The pricing for every design closely matches that of the European pricing. Happy shopping!

Address: G25, Ground Floor, The Starhill, 181 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur

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