Balmain calls for peace and truth in Paris Fashion Week show

By THOMAS ADAMSON
AP Fashion Writer

PARIS (AP) — Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing capped the second day of Paris Fashion Week Wednesday with provocation — and a thought for Ukraine. VIPs such as Serena Williams looked on as a battalion of dancers resembling soldiers in helmet-style hats put on a strange performance in the Le Marais venue to start the show. They seemed to fight one another depicting a battle — until the two leading soldiers dramatically kissed. Rousteing linked the display, which featured warlike drum music, to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The show was conceived as a response to Rousteing’s own personal battle with secrecy, after he was burnt and left ashamed at being permanently scarred by a fireplace explosion in October 2020.