Balmain Designer Says Robbers Made off with 50 Items for His Upcoming Paris Fashion Week Show

Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
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Balmain Designer Says Robbers Made off with 50 Items for His Upcoming Paris Fashion Week Show

Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Models present creations by designer Olivier Rousteing as part of his Spring-Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 28, 2022. (Reuters)

Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing says robbers have made off with more than 50 pieces of the new collection that his Paris house intends to show at Fashion Week later this month.

Posting overnight Sunday on Instagram, Rousteing said a group of people hijacked his delivery driver on the way from an airport to Balmain's Paris headquarters. He said they made off with the last pieces he'd been expecting for the Sept. 27 womenswear show — more than 50 items in all. He didn't detail the pieces.

"Our delivery was hijacked," he wrote. "Thank God, the driver is safe."

"So many people worked so hard to make this collection," he added. "We are redoing everything but this is so so disrespectful."

"We won’t give up."

He didn't specify which airport the delivery driver was coming from. Paris has two main international airports. Rousteing wrote that he'd been waiting in his office Saturday morning when "our driver called us and said that he was hijacked by a group of people."

"This is so unfair. My team and I worked so hard," he wrote. "We will work more, days and nights. Our suppliers will work days and night as well."

Paris police directed Associated Press questions to prosecutors who couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the weekend.



Tan Leather, Trio of Protestors Parade Hermes Catwalk in Paris

Models present creations by Hermes for the Women Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on September 28, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
Models present creations by Hermes for the Women Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on September 28, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
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Tan Leather, Trio of Protestors Parade Hermes Catwalk in Paris

Models present creations by Hermes for the Women Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on September 28, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
Models present creations by Hermes for the Women Ready-to-wear Spring-Summer 2025 collection as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on September 28, 2024. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

For her spring summer runway show, Hermes designer Nadege Vanhee sent out a parade of mesh crop tops and calfskin coats in tan hues on Saturday, a lineup that was briefly interrupted by three animal rights activists.
The show was kicking off with a series of light, beige looks -- loose trousers, sheer tops and a suede coat cinched in the back -- when the first protestor from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group burst on to the catwalk, wielding a sign calling for the label to stop using exotic skins, Reuters reported.
She was wrestled out of a side door by security guards just before the next model arrived, dressed in a buttery leather bomber jacket paired with a high waisted culotte.
Security guards nabbed another protestor who jumped on the catwalk shortly after, rushing her out the same side door in time for the next look -- a sheer top in ivory that matched the model's trousers and handbag.
The parade continued, featuring long sheer skirts unzipped to the thighs, bright pink dresses and belted outerwear.
When a third protestor suddenly appeared, the audience gasped. Her appearance was also brief, and the show continued.
It is not the first time PETA protestors have targeted the French label, known for its highly-coveted Birkin bags, with versions in exotic skins famous for fetching prices reaching as much as several hundred thousand dollars in auctions.
Paris Fashion Week, which started on Sept. 23, features dozens of brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Chanel and Victoria Beckham, wraps up Oct. 1.
PETA also targeted the Dior show earlier this week for the brand's use of feathers, with just one protestor very briefly entering the catwalk.