French designer Olivier Rousteing broke the glass ceiling with the announcement of being appointed as Creative Director of French Fashion House-Balmain. Within the past ten years of him being Creative Director, Rousteing continues to define the norms and break barriers for both young creatives and creatives of color. Rousteing spoke with contributing fashion editor, Lynn Yaeger at this year’s Force of Fashion.
Throughout the years, Rousteing has been very outspoken about being an adopted child. Never has he been afraid to share his emotional journey of being an adopted child, and it affected him from a young child into a man. As a child, he felt like he had to work twice as hard and always be the very best, to prove to his parents that they adopted the right child. And being afraid that would reject and send him back to the orphanage kept him striving for perfection. Rousteing gave the crowd a sneak peek of the new documentary that chronicles him trying to find his biological parents and to learn his lineage.
Rousteing has always been at the forefront of inclusion and pointed back to his earlier shows in 2012 and 2013, where he used a lot of models of color. Recalling how hard it would be for him to find models of color in Paris because other designers and brands were not requesting them. Rousteing is very proud of the direction of fashion and how things are shifting into becoming a more inclusive industry.