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  • Balmain’s creative director Olivier Rousteing is sheer inspiration to say the least and a newly minted guest editor this month on CNN Style. If you don’t know much about Rousteing’s story, he has overcome a number of challenges, including abandonment by his biological parents at a young age. His guest editorship uniquely isn’t going to be just about fashion, but what he has termed as #diversity. He shared these thoughts in the inaugural post, “when the press announced that I was the new creative director for Balmain the thing that was most shocking for a lot of people was not my age (I was 26 at the time) but my color, and that really surprised me. Suddenly there were all these stories about me being the first black designer in a luxury, heritage fashion house.” (Though Edward Buchanan at Bottega Veneta and Patrick Robinson at Paco Rabanne preceded him). Rousteing continues, Sometimes the fashion crowd think they’re really modern and avant-garde, but I think the system can also be quite old fashioned. I’m proud today to speak about a world where you walk down the street and see so much diversity, different people, different colors, different races. It’s what I want to try to express in my catwalk, in my casting. All my girls, no matter their age, they can be mothers, they can be 20 years old, they can have different body shapes and be different colors. Asian, American, African, European — they’re beautiful, strong women who are proud to be on the runway.” Yes, Olivier! I can’t wait to read more of his honest insights in this powerful series. (CNN Style)
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pat mcgrath wall street journal fashion innovator of the year by benn hassett
Nike Elite Performance Basketball Collection
  • You may think this already existed (actually I definitely did!), but apparently Nike had no female basketball apparel line, designed by women. This Tuesday, Nike Women revealed its Elite Basketball performance collection, an apparel line designed by females for female athletes. Retailers, especially powerful ones like Nike, can shape consumer culture and behavior. Designing basketball apparel with female athletes in mind gives a voice to the young girls playing the sport today who will aspire to the WNBA. In this ultra-competitive industry, it only takes one activewear giant to lead the way for the others to follow swiftly behind. (Fashionista) (Image: Nike)