Olivier Rousteing

Rousteing was born in Bordeaux and adopted by his parents at the age of one. His mother is an optician, while his father is a seaport manager. He grew up in Bordeaux and moved to Paris to study at ESMOD (Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode). Like Jacquemus, he dropped out in his first year citing lack of creative freedom. ==Career==

Early beginnings In 2003, Rousteing began his career at Roberto Cavalli, where he was promoted to creative director of the Italian label's women's ready-to-wear collection, serving for five years in that position. Balmain, 2009–2025 Rousteing joined Balmain in 2009. During his early time at Balmain he worked closely with Christophe Decarnin, the then French fashion house's creative director. While he liked Decarnin's aesthetic, he wanted to orient the label towards the finer aspects of French couture. At the time of his appointment, Rousteing was a relatively unknown designer, and brought a much-needed fresh take on the brand's aesthetic that remains to this day. He has been credited with adding an Asian influence to the clothing, as Asia comprises a huge part of the brand's buyers. Rousteing says his age, initial anonymity, and especially race led to grumblings amongst the fashion establishment. A New York City store opened in SoHo in April 2016. Other stores are in the planning stage. In 2022, Rousteing signed with the Creative Artists Agency "to explore new business-building opportunities in entertainment and popular culture that are complementary to his role as Balmain creative director." On 5 November 2025, Rousteing announced his departure from Balmain, after 14 years as creative director. ==Other activities==

Rousteing designed the costumes for the opera, Renaissance – a 27-minute ballet with 22 dancers, which was choreographed by Sébastien Bertaud and opened at Opéra de Paris on 13 June 2017. ==Personal life==

Rousteing was adopted and is gay. Though he had previously believed he was mixed race because of his skin colour, in 2019, he discovered that he is fully African, with an Ethiopian birth mother and a Somali birth father. The 2019 documentary Wonder Boy, written and directed by Anissa Bonnefont, examines his professional career and his search for his biological mother, who was aged 13 when she had him. ==References==