Balmain collection robbed days before Paris Fashion Week show

Balmain’s Creative Director, Olivier Rousteing, took to Instagram yesterday to announce that over 50 pieces of clothing were stolen from a delivery van after it was highjacked.

According to the Telegraph, the luxury fashion house’s Creative Director said a gang took control a delivery truck transporting the company’s Spring/ Summer 2024 line from a Paris airport to Balmain’s headquarters on Saturday morning.

The pieces were due to be on the runway during Paris Fashion Week in just a matter of days, on 27 September.

Taking to Instagram to announce the news to his 9.8 million followers, the designer wrote: "This morning I woke up with a smile. [But then] our delivery was hijacked."

Rousteing, who took the helm at Balmain in 2011, said the driver was found safe, but the truck and clothing had gone. He added, "So many people worked so hard to make this collection happen. We are redoing everything but this is so so disrespectful."

Following the heist, fellow designers flocked to social media to show their support. Donatella Versace, for example, wrote: "Sending you all my love… I know that you and your creativity will be able to overcome this."

Since 2016, the previously privately owned Balmain now belongs to Qatar-based investment group Mayhoola for Investments. They've since kept on the controversial Creative Director after he imbued the luxury house with fresh hip hop design codes and attracted a younger audience and celebrity clientele.