I like people who are powerful, confident, and fearless. Balmain is about an attitude. I think if Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor were alive, they would definitely be part of the Balmain crew. Olivier Rousteing More Quotes by Olivier Rousteing More Quotes From Olivier Rousteing What is the Balmain girl? It’s a woman who knows what she wants and is going to express it Olivier Rousteing girl When you become controversial, when you want to promote new ideas, you need to be the face of it and not be scared. Olivier Rousteing controversial scared You're taught that you need to please magazines, to please the fashion elite, and that if you do everything the right way, everyone is going to love you. But I decided not to follow some of the rules. My girls from the runway were not just models - they were soldiers. They helped me bring my ideas to life. I was talking about sexiness, about diversity, about different shapes of bodies. I was following my instincts and learning that it would not please the fashion elite. And I think this is the real luxury, to be free to express yourself. Freedom is luxury to me. Olivier Rousteing fashion girl real It's really sad to me that we even have to talk about diversity in the fashion world today. That I would love to change. Diversity should be normal. Olivier Rousteing diversity fashion world Being part of what I call the "click" generation - where everything has to be fast and revolutionary and you just want more, and it's about likes and consuming - I want to bring new things to the table. A lot of designers say they're scared or overwhelmed because everything moves so quickly now. I think it would be scarier if it was too slow. I want to go fast. Olivier Rousteing overwhelmed moving thinking I think fashion is fashion: Sometimes you dress people that you don't know, and sometimes you dress people that you actually know. Olivier Rousteing fashion people thinking We can use our art to become political, to become something you want to talk about. We make clothes, but we have the chance to change a generation as well. We have to remember that fashion changed the roles of men and women: When Yves Saint Laurent was putting pants on a woman, he was not only doing that - he was assuming the fact that a woman can wear pants like a man. It's all the codes that I think fashion pushed so much to change the world, and today it's what I'm trying to do in my own way. Olivier Rousteing fashion men art Sometimes I feel fashion is not open-minded enough. We need to push the old crowd to believe in what I believe, in the new generation. I remember when I started, my campaigns and and how I connected my love for music with fashion were a tiny bit controversial because they were like, 'How can you bring hip-hop or music into a luxury world?' or 'How you can be so connected to digital and use social media in luxury world?' Now it's changed, obviously, for the best, but I still think that we could push a bit more. Olivier Rousteing fashion believe thinking I wish there were more young people in the big houses, but sometimes it's really hard for them to believe in the youth because they go for what's the most expected. Olivier Rousteing house believe people I'm always trying to understand who I want to be, what I want, what I dream of. When I was a kid, I was really worried that my parents were going to bring me back to the orphanage. I was scared of tomorrow, scared that I was going to be abandoned again. So I tried to enjoy every minute of my life because maybe tomorrow wasn't going to happen. I think I live the same way today: scared of tomorrow. For someone who is considered a party boy, a guy who just has fun and drinks champagne, I'm really tortured. Olivier Rousteing party dream fun It's amazing to see there aren't boundaries around gender. My menswear business has changed over the years as far as what men are daring to wear. And women, too. Men wanted to look tough, but now they realize you don't have to look like your granddad or dad. You can show a more feminine side. Olivier Rousteing tough dad men I wish fashion would have changed a bit more; obviously, there is change, but it's not enough - for example, I don't think there's enough diversity in fashion on the catwalk, in magazines. I really would love to push that more. Olivier Rousteing diversity fashion thinking What makes me sad in fashion is that everyone is looking for trends. A trend is one thing. Timeless is another. In 20 years, I've seen so many trends. It makes me sad when people go for the trend versus quality or vision. Or when people wear something so basic just to make sure they're considered cool, like a white t-shirt. Olivier Rousteing vision fashion people I think the only word I can use to describe what I'm doing today is feeling free. Of course, it's a business - it's about money at the end of the day, but it's about ideas as well. When you treat fashion only like a business, you're not going to go anywhere; when you push on that, we have the chance to express ourselves. Olivier Rousteing fashion feelings thinking I really respect the new generation, people who are maybe 12 or 13. I think it's really important to understand the future customer - their tastes and their dreams. What my generation is dreaming of is different from what my parents dreamt. Olivier Rousteing dream people thinking I've learned that I am strong enough. When some people might have given up, I didn't. I found myself in situations where I had to make choices and I followed my instincts. You can't show people you're learning, because if you do, they will treat you like a kid. You have to grow up faster, not showing any fragility. Olivier Rousteing growing-up strong kids When you build a big empire, you become the persona that people think they know. So when you try to show them who you are, to help them discover you, they just want what they think they know about you. I would have been smarter to build some relationships when I was younger, a private love or something. Today it is more difficult. But it's the price to pay. I never regret anything, because every choice I made for a reason, but I'd love personal love. Olivier Rousteing regret people thinking I don't see a difference between a biological family and an adoptive one. I think the difference is more in the eyes of others around you, who might judge because you're not the same skin color as your parents. Olivier Rousteing eye judging thinking Kanye West is inspirational. He expresses such a strong vision beyond music, beyond fashion - it's art. He sn't afraid to push boundaries and be provocative. Olivier Rousteing fashion strong art What I'm doing now is having people with and around me to build what other designers built before - like Pierre Balmain with Josephine Baker, Audrey Hepburn, Dalida, Brigitte Bardot. Olivier Rousteing audrey designer people
