The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT (MFIT) announced it will honor Olivier Rousteing, creative director of the house of Balmain, with the 2025 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion during the Council’s annual luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
The event heralds the arrival of New York Fashion Week, with proceeds benefiting The Museum at FIT, the only museum in New York dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion. Couture Council board members Jane DeFlorio, corporate director at Vivid Seats Inc., and Stephanie Loeffler, philanthropist and board member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will serve as co-chairs. Bloomingdale’s will proudly serve as the presenting sponsor of the luncheon, an extension of Bloomingdale’s longstanding commitment to celebrating and supporting the art of fashion.
For more than a decade, Olivier Rousteing has acted as the creative director of the Balmain house. In 2011, Rousteing was selected to head Balmain’s design team, becoming one of the youngest talents named to lead a historic Parisian fashion house at the age of twenty-five. Rousteing has been carefully building upon the legacy of the house’s founder, Pierre Balmain, who famously introduced a fresh, feminine, and surprising “New French Style” to post-war couture.
Beginning with inspirations pulled directly from the house’s rich archives, and fully utilizing the Balmain atelier’s impressive mastery of intricate traditional couture techniques, Rousteing has been able to skillfully graft his own distinctive style at the historic house. He is considered to be creating a modern and inclusive “New French Style”, one which melds together an immediately recognizable singular silhouette, a contemporary outlook reflecting Rousteing’s own extraordinary personal journey, and a spirit pulled directly from the avenues and boulevards of a transformed-yet-eternal Paris, the dynamic and diverse fashion capital that has influenced every Balmain collection for 80 years.
"Receiving The Museum at FIT’s Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion is a profound honor and a unique moment of reflection,” said Rousteing. “Style is not merely about clothing; it's about the art of expression and the beautiful stories we share. Throughout my journey at Balmain, I've always pushed boundaries and challenged conventional notions of beauty to offer new and unexpected narratives. This award celebrates not just my work and my incredible team, but the collective spirit of boldness and creativity that fuels our industry as we continue to redefine the world of fashion.”
“Appointed to his post at Balmain at the age of 25 as the youngest creative director in Paris since Yves Saint Laurent, Olivier Rousteing has had a major influence on the industry,” said Dr. Joyce F. Brown, FIT president. “Olivier’s path as a visionary young designer is especially inspiring to our students, and we celebrate his cultivation of a broad and inclusive clientele over the past 14 years at Balmain.”
"We are delighted to honor Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, whose fashions have attracted a diverse global audience through the famous Balmain Army,” said Dr. Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT. “Olivier's strong and beautiful fashions have been featured in a number of major exhibitions at The Museum at FIT, including Paris, Capital of Fashion (2019), Africa's Fashion Diaspora (2023), and the forthcoming, Dress, Dreams, and Desire (2025). I have such respect for Olivier Rousteing, who is not only a very talented designer but also a thoughtful and genuine person."
Photo: Olivier Rousteing Courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
