PARIS — The Balmain army can stand easy.Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of the brand known for $4,000 sequined evening dresses and $2,000 gold-buttoned men’s jackets, plans to shift his design aesthetic and open up Balmain to a wider audience, as the Paris-based house gears up for its next growth phase under a new chief executive officer.
Balmain on Monday named Massimo Piombini to the top post, succeeding Emmanuel Diemoz, signaling its ambition to become a global leader in luxury goods under its new Qatari owners.
Piombini, already a member of the Balmain board of directors, was previously worldwide commercial director of Valentino SpA, which like Balmain is owned by Mayhoola for Investments, the investment fund backed by the emir of Qatar. His appointment is effective immediately.
Having introduced accessories for fall, Rousteing is looking for additional ways to draw customers to the brand, which despite its notoriety, logged only one-eighth of Valentino’s revenues in 2015 — the latest year for which figures are available.
Diemoz, who joined Balmain in 2000 and owned a stake in the label, steered the company through an explosive growth phase while maintaining high profitability. In a statement, Balmain said he had decided to leave the company after several years of “exemplary leadership.”
But Balmain has plenty of room to grow. In an exclusive interview with WWD, Piombini and Rousteing said they would work together to open stores and expand the product assortment. The brand’s teams have moved into new headquarters in central Paris that will soon house a showroom.
“There is a great opportunity in the market. Balmain is one of the best hidden secrets, because it’s not developed at full potential yet, and so with the support of Olivier and a structure that we have and that we are going to reinforce, I think we’re going to have a great future,” Piombini said.
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