Long before he was appointed creative director of Rabanne, a teenage Olivier Rousteing sat before a television screen, watching a documentary about the house’s founder. On it, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn shimmered in futuristic metallic dresses. The adolescent asked himself: were these simply garments, or were they superheroes? The question, recalled by the designer this week, has now come full circle.

On Tuesday, the Puig-owned fashion house confirmed that Rousteing would take the creative helm, with his first runway show scheduled for Paris Fashion Week in March 2027, presenting the autumn/winter collection. He succeeds Julien Dossena, who departed in June after 13 years credited with reviving the brand, launching menswear and reinterpreting its space-age codes for a younger clientele. Rousteing, 40, arrives after a 14-year tenure at Balmain, which he left in November 2025, having been appointed at just 25 — the youngest non-founder to lead a major Parisian house since Yves Saint Laurent at Dior.

In a statement, Rousteing described the appointment as an ‘immense honour’ and paid tribute to Dossena’s ‘remarkable creative legacy’, noting that his predecessor’s vision had ‘redefined the maison for a new generation’. The designer, who built a digital ‘Balmain Army’ of celebrity followers and amassed nearly 10 million Instagram followers, also shared a screenshot of a message exchange with his mother confirming the news, captioned ‘Let the journey begin’. French observers note that his appointment is the latest in a cascade of creative director changes at major luxury houses — including Gucci, Balenciaga, Versace and Dior — which analysts in Moscow and elsewhere link to a broader slowdown in luxury demand.

In Russia, business daily Kommersant underscored the commercial stakes: under Rousteing, Balmain’s revenue reportedly grew tenfold, from €30 million to €300 million. Brazilian coverage highlighted his role in bringing haute couture into the digital age, while Spanish media, attentive to the interests of Rabanne’s parent group Puig, framed the move as a strategic new chapter. The designer himself has hinted at ambitions beyond clothing, joking about sending the brand to the moon and suggesting his work at Rabanne would involve fragrance.

For a house founded on the radical use of metal, plastic and paper, the appointment of a designer who once saw its creations as superhero costumes carries a certain symmetry. As Rousteing put it, fashion is about ‘emotion, identity and the confidence to express who we really are’ — a conviction he says is deeply connected to Paco Rabanne’s enduring vision of freedom and individuality. The question now is not whether the dresses are for superheroes, but what new forms that spirit will take on the runway next spring.