Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing has reported the theft of more than 50 pieces of his new collection, per a Sunday post to his 9.8 million followers on his personal Instagram page.
“Our driver called us and said he was hijacked by a group of people,” wrote Rousteing. “More than 50 Balmain pieces stolen. He was driving from the airport to the Balmain headquarter[s]. This is so unfair.”
Rousteing, who has been creative director of the French house since 2011, said the Sept. 27 show would still go on as scheduled, and that his team is “redoing everything, but this is so so disrespectful.” He added that the driver was unharmed.
The fall-winter 2023 Balmain collection featured a tightly-edited show of 52 looks, and it normally takes weeks or months to create the looks shown on the runway.
People in the fashion industry have since posted sympathy comments to Rousteing, including model Linda Evangelista and designers Simon Porte Jacquemus and Donatella Versace.
Balmain is owned by Mayhoola, who purchased the label in 2016.
In January, Laurent Nuñez, the prefect of police in Paris, told French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that overall crime rates in Paris and the city’s surrounding suburbs had dropped in the six months since he was appointed to his position. However, he added that burglaries and domestic violence incidents had risen.
