Jolie Madame

A few months ago on a lovely Sunday afternoon, I turned on the telly and was jumping in excitement to watch "Balmain Style" on Life Inspired Channel. The one hour documentary was so captivating yet inspiring that made me literally wanted to go out in a tweed and dress like a Parisian!

Olivier Rousteing as some of you may know; became Balmain's youngest Creative Director in Paris ever since Yves Saint Laurent. Olivier (as he is typically referred to as) changed the course of fashion from the typical Paris Fashion House to a more modern, strong, unique and vibrant label. Olivier connected his customers through social media and made a following from celebrities, notable celebrities include the Kardashians, Kanye West & Rihanna who all went on to showcase Balmain. Olivier's brilliant move in creating the powerful Balmain collection with the hip millennial crowd started a strong trend that more importantly, made the Balmain brand stood out worldwide.

After such huge success, H&M collaborated with Balmain in 2015 for their Designer Collaboration Collection. People all around the world queued up all morning to get their hands on his masterpiece. Even the window display had to be taken down for sale due to such overwhelming crowd.

Anyway, I was inspired by how Olivier still kept the Balmain aesthetic and signature, "Jolie Madame". "Jolie" means pretty and "Madame" means lady in French. Back then, every Paris Fashion House such as Dior empowers women with elegant clothing. "Jolie Madame" is also a perfume produced in the year 1953 by Pierre Balmain himself for women of that era. The term "Jolie Madame" stayed in my head up till this day because I could channel and relate my style with Monsieur Rousteing and of course the vision of Monsieur Pierre Balmain himself. I've always admire and adore the classic Audrey Hepburn 60's Givenchy look. Today, sadly, not many women appreciate vintage outfits as much as I do. Most importantly, style is personal and this is my way of expressing myself.

Till then. Auf Wiedersehen!