Balmain and Evian continue partnership with eco-focused sportswear collab

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 18, 2023

Luxury label Balmain and water brand Evian have unveiled their second collaboration is a series launched last year. But unlike the couture focus of the first link-up, this time it’s all about sporty RTW and accessories.

Like the earlier collab (which included a couture gown and a limited edition bottle), it also pushes the boundaries of what’s possible using recycled materials.

Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing and his design team have created a series of “eye-catching, limited-edition ready-to-wear and accessory designs that pair classic sportswear silhouettes with shades of soft pastels”.

Created using a wide variety of eco-friendly practices, materials and innovations, the collection of “laid-back styles places the collaboration’s focus squarely on the powerful possibilities of a future world of fashion sustainability”.

The label also worked with Solaris, a specialist in recycling innovations, and “developed a surprising new spin on the popular Balmain B-It slider: a sleek and transparent B-It that is entirely crafted from plastic waste that is typically judged to be unsuitable for reuse within the circular product cycle”. 

Solaris assisted the accessory design team further, helping create an “unexpected take on the house’s luxury Blaze handbag, using a 45% plant-based resin mixture to 3D-print the body and cover of the Blaze”. The bag’s handle and lock logo were also 3D-printed, relying on a 100% rPET material created from recycled Evian waste (Evian rPET flakes) that didn’t meet circularity standards. 

The pieces are now available on Balmain.com and at select boutiques around the world.

As well as being eco-friendly, the collection is meant to celebrate “the joys of summer” and comes under the tagline of “Together, change is beautiful”.

The companies said that “Rousteing is determined to spur both his own team and the entire fashion industry towards long-overdue transitions to conscious choices during each of the many steps behind creating garments and accessories — from production, processing and manufacturing, all the way to packaging, labelling, and distribution of final designs”.

And he said the “first partnership with Evian helped show that sustainable practices can make for impressive outcomes. But for me, that was only a starting point. If we want to continue creating beauty, while respecting the beauty of this planet, there’s just so much more that all of us in the fashion world should be doing now. 

“We need to test and perfect new techniques in sourcing, recycling, upcycling, sustainably producing — and yes, I know, the list can sometimes seem endless. With this second capsule, we aim to make very clear that conscience and creativity can actually work quite well together.”

MATERIALS FOCUS

For the latest offer, the team has worked to incorporate a wide variety of materials — including GOTS-certified1 organic cottons, FSC-certified viscose and several GRS-Certified recycled materials — into the extensive offering of swimsuits, tees, hoodies, bombers, trucker jackets and jeans. 

Also there are recycled polyester label and composition stickers, paper packaging that relies on pulp from sustainably managed FSC-certified forests and recycled plastic hangers and bags. 

Most of the capsule’s everyday summer looks “play with new takes on soft pastels, with a host of interesting gradient treatments. A beautifully embroidered short blue dress, crafted by the Balmain atelier using Forest Stewardship Council certified viscose, makes it very clear that sustainability can definitely be Balmain-runway-ready.”

And Rousteing partnered with artisans who have been awarded the certificate of Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (EPV) — a recognition that translates to ‘Living Heritage Company’. The label, set up by the French government in 2006, recognises the country’s highest levels of craft and industrial expertise. 

Both house founder Pierre Balmain and Evian have deep roots in Savoy, the, mountainous region of southeastern France, and the campaign for the second collaboration highlights that shared origin story, with director Carlota Guerrero filming dance troupe La Marche Bleue amid the Pyrenees’ snowy peaks. 

Built around the collaboration’s “Together, Change Is Beautiful” message, choreographer Leo Walk “designed sequences that would be impossible to perform alone — but are sublime when performed together”.