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Balmain Turns Runway Show into AIDS-Fighting Music Festival

June 25, 2019
Fashion & Beauty


Balmain’s fashion week presentation last Friday was anything but your typical runway show.

Creative director Olivier Rousteing wanted music to be a key part of the show, but rather than just adding a live music performance alongside the fashion models, he transformed the event into an all-out music festival. Think that sounds cool? You haven’t even heard the best part: the whole Balmain Music Festival supported (RED)’s fight to end AIDS.

Rousteing and Balmain made it easy for all attendees to join (RED), with proceeds from each food, drink, and exclusive festival merch item going directly to fund life-saving HIV/AIDS programs on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to raising money, the festival helped bring heat and awareness to HIV/AIDS – a treatable and preventable disease that is very much still a crisis.

To coincide with la Fête de la Musique, Paris’ annual all-night celebration of music, more than 2,000 people gathered outdoors at the city’s historic Jardin des Plantes. Balmain created an unforgettable evening, from debuting their Men’s Spring 2020 Collection and musical performances from Darren Criss, Years & Years and Rag’n’Bone Man.

Want to learn more? Check out photos from the star-studded event in our Facebook Album.