RUNWAY: Balmain FW17

Olivier Rousteing's latest outing for Balmain offered an incredibly expansive collection of heavily embellished designs with high-end skins like crocodile making cameos throughout. The menswear here had dramatic proportions and offered layered looks that must have weighed more than many of the models. The price tags of these pieces will undoubtedly end up in the tens of thousands while the most exclusive, like the aforementioned crocodile skins, into the 6-figures. Rousteing and Balmain have legions of fans clamoring for a piece of the action, evidenced by the rabid consumption of Balmain's collaboration with H&M a few years ago, and this collection will further that desire but with these sky-high prices, who among the millions of followers can actually afford any of it? This menswear collection is Rousteing's largest and grandest, the workmanship exceled but a lack of editing was abundantly clear, even for maximalists, this was a bit much.