Those responsible for the theft of the Balmain collection have been arrested

Every Fashion Week brings with it a baggage of unique controversies, and sometimes, these have repercussions that extend to the following one. As the fashion industry sets its sights on Paris for the PFW, a ghost from the past has returned to make headlines on the streets of the French capital with the arrest of those responsible for the theft of Balmain's penultimate collection. Just a few days before the September 2023 runway show, the creative director of the maison, Olivier Rousteing, had announced on Instagram that the van containing 50 looks from SS24 had been seized, compromising the entire show. According to information from Apg-agence France-presse, six young individuals were arrested in the outskirts of Paris.

The police report reveals that the van containing the collection pieces had been hijacked on the way to the maison's headquarters by a group of armed men. Despite the considerable value of the merchandise, the theft did not occur with the purpose of resale, and the garments designed by Rousteing's team were found by the police in recent days in one of the suspect's apartments. The alarm raised by the maison's creative director had sparked various controversies in the comments of the post regarding crime in major European cities. While some fashion enthusiasts and critics had fun joking about their lack of interest in Rousteing's work, whether ironic or not, the garments will now return to become part of the Balmain archives - being in Paris during Fashion Week, they might even appear in the brand's show scheduled for January 20.