Cookie banner

This site uses cookies. Select "Block all non-essential cookies" to only allow cookies necessary to display content and enable core site features. Select "Accept all cookies" to also personalize your experience on the site with ads and partner content tailored to your interests, and to allow us to measure the effectiveness of our service.

To learn more, review our Cookie Policy, Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.

or
clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Balmain Chairman Alain Hivelin Has Died at Age 71

Photo: Getty
Photo: Getty

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Balmain's chairman and majority owner Alain Hivelin died last week in Paris at the age of 71, the New York Times reports. Hivelin took the couture house from near-bankruptcy to "hard-edged, stud-speckled, ripped-jean hipness." He was responsible for shrewd hires, like former creative director Christophe Decarnin and the house's current creative director Olivier Rousteing. With his passing, the future of Balmain and the ownership of the brand is a bit of a question mark, although Hivelin named his closest collaborators Jean-François Deheq as chairman and Emmanuel Diemoz as chief executive.
· Alain Hivelin, Maestro of Balmain's Revival, Dies at 71: What Next for the Brand? [NYT]
· Let's Talk About Sex: Balmain's Olivier Rousteing Does Just That [Racked]
· This Season's New Perfumes, Reviewed by Real People [Racked]