"My city of lights" the new virtual reality experience
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"My City of Lights,” the new VR experience offers an immersive reflection of Olivier Rousteing’s design journey.

"Of course, we were never going to be satisfied with just throwing another opening party to celebrate
Balmain’s first Italian address.

For the launch of that new store concept, which is premiering on the prestigious Via Montenapoleone
during Milan’s upcoming Salone del Mobile, my team and I were determined to do something special—
something that truly reflects the distinctive DNA of today’s Balmain. The boutique’s interior, with its rich
materials and classic touches, contains a multitude of allusions to the house’s Parisian heritage. To
reflect other important strands of our character—our dynamic young spirit, embrace of new mediums
and insistence on inclusion—my team and I developed a unique virtual reality experience called “My
City of Lights,” which invites visitors to join me on a visually immersive journey tracking the creative
milestones behind each Balmain collection.

After donning the special Balmain VR headset that I designed in partnership with Oculus, visitors are
transported to the beginning of a dream-like odyssey, where I will act as their guide. As we head off
together to visit each of the metaphorical stations along the pathway of the creative process, I aim to
help my travel companions experience and understand a bit of the fears, inspirations and emotions that
I encounter each season when creating a new runway offering. In the end, this unique VR experience
offers not only a bit of entertaining escapism—my team and I particularly enjoyed watching the
contortions of colleagues as they entered new VR environments—it also underlines Balmain’s
commitment to being as inclusive as possible, by allowing all members of the Balmain Army a chance to
discover and participate in my Balmain universe."

Olivier Rousteing, Creative Director
Paris
14 April 2018