Man's ensemble
Brand
Balmain
(French, founded 1945)
Designer
Olivier Rousteing
(French, born 1985)
2021
Suede, cotton / polyester blend, and metal
Museum purchase
Object number2022.7.2
French designer Olivier Rousteing grew up watching American cowboy movies. His collaboration on costumes for the Black American cowboy movie The Harder They Fall (2021) inspired a capsule collection for Balmain that marries Rousteing’s luxe aesthetic with Old West details. It also acts as a corrective. Earlier Westerns, “with their all-white casts, ignored an incredible history, where …[a quarter] of American cowboys were black—many of them newly freed slaves.” He states, “I was really pleased to work on this project so that the next generation, when they start watching Westerns, they will find a different point of view.”
DescriptionEnsemble: Brown suede motorcyle style jacket with zipper closure, snap down collar, three front zipper slash pockets, snap epaulets, zipper cuffs, fringe down sleeves and across back seam; Brown and white crinckle gingham cotton polyester blend long sleeve tab collar shirt with covered button front placket, two front silver metal button flap patch pockets, two button cuffs; Matching brown suede pants with drawstring waist, slash zipper pockets and reinforced knee stitchingExhibitions