The Espion, one of Balmain Eyewear’s latest frame designs, played a key role in the recent Balmain Men Fall 2024 runway. With Creative Director Olivier Rousteing’s collection blending together the house’s unmistakable precise Parisian tailoring and couture artistry with a host of influences from all across the world, the striking Espion frame helped to underline one particularly powerful strand of the Balmain DNA: the house’s impressively long connection with the singularly rebellious spirit of music.
House founder Pierre Balmain famously dressed the music icons of his day—including Josephine Baker, Juliette Gréco and Marlene Dietrich. Olivier Rousteing has continued to build upon that unique heritage, partnering with the greatest musicians of the 21st century on a long list of special collaborations, concert outfits and red-carpet creations. And, of course, Rousteing’s strong relationships with those artists and his love for their music has always been reflected in the house’s designs. For the Balmain Men Fall 2024 presentation, Rousteing channeled the genius of some of America’s most important 20th-century composers, from ragtime composers to hip-hop legends. In particular, many of the runway’s models were styled with fresh spins on classic rap accessories. As Rousteing explained, the presentation’s many durags and spins on grills recalled the classic look of those hip-hop and rap artists that he grew up listening to. And, for his final, finishing touch, the designer added Balmain Eyewear’s new Espion, a limited-edition oversized wrap-around frame, in order to impart what Rousteing sums up as “hip-hop’s requisite VIP attitude.”
Rousteing’s celebrity reference make perfect sense. After all, the edgy Espion was originally designed for the many Balmain VIPs who wish to continue on, undetected, as they make their way past the inevitable paparazzi, gogglers and curious bystanders. Like the finest Balmain runway pieces, the oversized, wrap around frame deftly melds the house’s essential luxe and sport essences into one singular creation—a silhouette that is both disruptive and memorable. Olivier Rousteing and his team worked closely with Akoni Group’s eyewear artisans to create several impressive, one- of-a-kind touches for the mask-like frame, including solid floating hinges connecting the temples and frame face, and a removable and interchangeable nose piece. Reflecting its VIP positioning, the Espion is presented in a special luxury packaging—and each of the trio of distinctive color options (Black/Gold/ Grey, White/Gold/Grey and Crystal Brown/Brown/Silver-Flash Mirror) is an extremely limited-edition offering: there are only 300 frames available for each of the three tonal choices.
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