Balmain: Where are they in the world of Haute Couture??
Balmain is a brand revamped by social media, the credit can be partially attributed to their head designer Olivier Rousteing. As the face of Balmain he is all over social media, whether its Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter, Rousteing can be seen partying with celebrities, models, musicians and all the while they’re wearing his latest designs. Creating these strong ties between his brand and the influencers of today’s world has helped Balmain create the youthful, modern image they’re known for. It’s nothing to see Kim Kardashian rocking a Balmain gown to the Met Gala or Kendall Jenner sporting their new collection on the runway. Just last night I was watching the VMA’s and automatically recognized one of their signature dresses being worn by an up and coming actress, Hailee Seinfeld. These celebrities’ wardrobes are becoming a walking billboard for the Balmain brand.
Compared to other Haute Couture brands Balmain is a relativity new player in the high end fashion world. The French fashion house was founded in 1946 by Pierre Balmain. Balmain has become a world renowned brand over the years having hosted influential designers such as Oscar de la Renta and Christophe Decarnin. Balmain may be a well-known luxury brand to most but where does it fit into the world of high end fashion? According to the research firm, Millward Brown, Louis Vuitton is the #1 luxury brand in the world with a brand value worth $28 billion. The list continues with Hermes, Gucci and my personal favorite, Chanel. You might be wondering where Balmain falls on the list? Well they haven’t quite made the cut. Why is that? They’re an elegant brand with a growing, young following.
So I took at the Instagram pages of Balmain, Louis Vuitton and Chanel to see if there were any clear differences in how these brands are using their social media to reach their consumers. There didn’t seem to be any real differences between the content of their accounts. But compared to Louis Vuitton’s 12.6 million followers and Chanel’s 14.6 million followers Balmain only had about 5 million. However, Balmain had about 3,000 post which is double that of Louis Vuitton and Chanel. So while Balmain may have a smaller following it engages more with its followers and creates a closer relationship with its customers. This being said I believe that if Balmain sticks with its current strategy we might see them on the list sooner rather than later.
This post was created as part of the Global Luxury Management Program at the NC State Poole School of Management. All thoughts and opinions are my own
