Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing designs blinged-out clothes made for getting noticed, so where else but the Chateau Marmont could he make his L.A. debut? “It’s a dream,” Rousteing mused on his first official visit to the city, at a dinner thrown in his honor at the famous hotel last night. “There’s this unique feeling here, everything is unique.” In town for Met Gala fittings, Rousteing got to see how Hollywood responds to his Balmain. “They have this kind of relaxed take. They wear those dresses like they can wear pajamas,” he said. “And when you dress talent, they have something to say to the work.” Rousteing is taking Kate Bosworth as his guest to the Punk party on Monday night.
Among the cadre of stylists on hand, Cher Coulter came with clients Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Nicole Richie. Rachel Zoe and Liberty Ross also made appearances. Jewelry maker Aurélie Bidermann, who was in town with The Webster’s Laure Heriard Dubreuil, has probably known Rousteing longest. She emphasized the twentysomething designer’s down-to-earth appeal—bejeweled brocade jackets and swagged silk sarouel pants notwithstanding. “To me, it’s his spirit—what you see is what you get,” she said of her fellow Parisian. “This is like having a family dinner.”
