1914
- Pierre Balmain is born in Saint-Jean-de-la-Maurienne in France’s southeastern Savoie region of the Alps.
1933
1934
- Balmain sells sketches to Robert Piguet.
- The couturier is offered a job by Paris-based British couturier Edward Molyneux.
1939
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- Balmain enters the studio of Lucien Lelong.
- When World War II is declared, he is mobilized in the French Army Pioneer Corps as part of the Alpine defenses.
- He meets Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas while in the Alps.
1941
- After France’s capitulation, he returns to Paris and his position at Lelong, where he works alongside Christian Dior.
1945
- Balmain sets up his eponymous house at 44 François-1er.
- His first couture collection is presented to the press on Sept. 18.
1946
- Balmain launches the Elysées 64-83 perfume, named after the couture house’s phone number, and created by nose Germaine Cellier.
- The couturier creates eight dresses for Helena Rubenstein for the launch of a makeup line, which are then reproduced and sold by the B. Altman & Co. department store in the U.S.
1947
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- Balmain hires Ginette Spanier to manage his store, dubbed “Le Kiosque des Fantaisies.”
- The Vent Vert perfume launches at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Balmain begins a tour that takes him from London to Australia, via Egypt, Singapore and Southeast Asia. On the way back, he stops in California, where he meets with Neiman Marcus, and New York.
1948
- Erik Mortensen joins the company.
1949
- Balmain visits the U.S. and opens his first ready-to-wear boutique in New York City as part of a joint venture that will last four years.
- The house offers U.S.-specific designs and develops its boutique collection, a forerunner of ready-to-wear.
1952
- Balmain launches the Jolie Madame perfume.
1954
- After winning an award in the coats category at the International Wool Secretariat, Karl Lagerfeld is hired as an assistant and later apprentice to Pierre Balmain, staying until 1958.
1955
- Balmain receives the Neiman Marcus award in Dallas.
1960
- Queen Sirikit of Thailand orders a complete wardrobe from Balmain, ahead of an official tour across Europe and the U.S., fusing European styles and Thai textiles.
- Revlon purchases the Les Parfums Pierre Balmain fragrance business of the house.
1962
- Balmain is made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian distinction.
1964
- Balmain publishes an autobiography titled “My Years and Seasons.”
1965
- Balmain visits Japan for the first time. He goes on to dress Empress Nagako of Japan, grandmother of current Emperor Naruhito.
- He designs uniforms for the TWA airline.
1966
- The brand expands into menswear.
- Balmain is made “Cavaliere Ufficial del Merito Italiano” by Italy’s president Giuseppe Saragat.
1967
- Balmain designs uniforms for Southern Airways.
1968
- He designs uniforms for the Grenoble Winter Olympics and for Singapore Airlines.
- The Miss Balmain perfume is launched.
1970
- Balmain participates in a couture showcase organized by France’s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Tokyo.
1974
- Balmain launches “Balmain Hair Couture” with Dutch wigmaker Dick Guliker, first offering wigs and later hair products.
- The company inks multiple license deals: with a Hong Kong-based firm for ready-to-wear in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K., and for anything from rtw and accessories to luggage and furs in Japan.
1976
- Longtime director Ginette Spanier leaves the company after 28 years.
- The company gets financing from the French government’s Institute of Industrial Development and private loans to finance the development of rtw.
- The company inks a deal with Hattie Carnegie Jewelry Enterprises to manufacture fine and costume jewelry as well as belts, handbags, small leather goods, sunglasses and optical goods.
1978
- Balmain is elevated to Officer of the Legion of Honor.
1979
- The Ivoire perfume is launched.
- Balmain signs licenses for men’s outerwear and casualwear and launches the B Balmain diffusion line, designed by Christiane Bailly.
1981
- Balmain designs a uniform for France’s first female police commissioner and another for French novelist and journalist Michel Droit, elected as a member of the Académie Française.
- Revlon introduces the Ivoire perfume to the American market.
1982
- The company inks a deal with French rtw company Weinberg to produce Pret-a-porter Balmain.
- Balmain sells his shares to the French government’s Institute of Industrial Development, which are then resold to a group of French investors.
- Pierre Balmain dies on June 29, aged 68.
- His right-hand man Erik Mortensen steps up to finish the fall 1982 collection and lead the couture house.
- Balmain is posthumously awarded the Dé d’Or.
1983
- Mortensen is awarded the Dé d’Or for his fall 1983 couture collection.
- Launch of the Ebène perfume, the last on which the late couturier had worked.
- A spring 1983 women’s rtw collection is designed by Frédéric Hildebrand.
1984
- The Pierre Balmain SA company licenses a line of neckwear.
1985
- A six-month retrospective on Balmain’s 40 years of creation opens at Palais Galliera.
- Revlon sells Parfums Balmain to Belgian retailer Cobepa Group.
- Murjani International becomes licensee for apparel and non-apparel categories for U.S. distribution.
- Canadian real estate developer Erich Fayer becomes chairman of Pierre Balmain international, the master licensor for all products in the Americas.
- Licenses for watches and cigarettes are signed.
1986
- Canadian investment group Zanimob, the investment vehicle of enigmatic businessman Erich Fayer, acquires control of the Pierre Balmain International subsidiary.
1987
- Mortensen is awarded the Dé d’Or a second time, for his fall 1987 couture collection.
- The Ivoire high-end rtw line launches, designed by Mortensen.
1988
- Balmain ends the deal with Weinberg, replacing it with Milan-based Mirta del Pineo to manufacture and distribute the diffusion line, renamed Miss Balmain.
- New York-based accessories firm Swoboda is awarded the license for a line of handbags and belts.
1989
- Alain Chevalier, the former chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, becomes president of Balmain.
1990
- Chevalier purchases a majority stake in the company.
- The company taps Alistair Blair to design the Ivoire line.
- The Pierre Balmain collection, under licensee Don Elliot Inc., launches in the U.S. and Canada.
1991
- Balmain goes through financial turmoil and is sold back to Fayer.
1993
- Oscar de la Renta is named creative director, initially for a three-year term.
1994
- Pierre Balmain SA licenses Societe Creations Michel Firer to manufacture and distribute a diffusion collection of women’s rtw, starting with spring 1995.
1995
- Fayer dies in Paris, reportedly at the age of 71.
- Alain Hivelin joins the company as general manager of couture, quickly becoming president of a group encompassing fashion, fragrances and accessories.
1997
- Balmain buys back the license agreement from partners Cosmos, which made and distributed the line for Southeast Asia, and Delmakor Deltex, a Belgian company that did the same for Europe.
1999
- The company signs a distribution agreement with Hassan & Marwan al Kadri of Damascus, the largest textile manufacturer in Syria, to sell its men’s, women’s, children’s and accessories lines in the country, with 10 stores on the cards.
2002
- De la Renta exits the brand to concentrate on his own brand and is succeeded by Laurent Mercier.
2003
- Christophe Lebourg succeeds Mercier.
2004
- The company files for bankruptcy protection in Paris and is given six months to turn the business around.
2005
- Hivelin becomes the main shareholder.
- Balmain’s turnaround sees it become profitable, the executive later told WWD.
2006
- Christophe Decarnin becomes creative director.
2008
- Licenses are trimmed down, with a dozen of them cut, according to Hivelin.
2010
- A short-lived Blue Label apparel collection is tested with French producer Balness.
2011
- Olivier Rousteing is named creative director.
- The company inks a deal with the L’Amy group for the design and distribution of its eyewear, and with Italian manufacturer Ittierre SpA for its secondary Pierre Balmain line.
2012
- The company signs a license agreement with Interparfums SA.
2013
- The agreement with Ittierre for the Pierre Balmain line is terminated early.
2014
- Hivelin, the majority owner of the company, dies in Paris at the age of 71 and the company’s ownership passes to private investors that include his family holding and company executives, with Emmanuel Diemoz becoming chief executive officer.
2015
- The H&M x Balmain collaboration launches.
2016
- The brand stages its first men’s runway show.
- A children’s line makes its debut in June.
- Its first freestanding store in America opens on New York’s Wooster Street.
- Mayhoola for Investments buys 100 percent of Balmain.
2017
- A limited-edition lipstick line in partnership with L’Oréal Paris launches.
- The house’s accessories collections are relaunched.
- Early termination of the deal with Interparfums sees its beauty business go mostly dormant.
- Massimo Piombini named CEO.
- Balmain collaborates with Beats and Victoria’s Secret on headphones and pieces for the lingerie brand’s annual fashion show, respectively.
2018
- Introduction of a new logo and a monogram intermingling the letters P and B.
- Pieces designed for Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s Coachella performance are released as limited-edition designs.
2019
- Jean-Jacques Guével, formerly at Zadig & Voltaire, named CEO.
- The house returns to couture with a spring 2019 show.
- Balmain turns its spring 2020 men’s show in Paris into a runway-cum-concert.
- The brand teams with Cara Delevingne for bags and later in the year, a 35-piece Puma x Balmain athletic collection.
- Kylie Jenner and Rousteing develop a makeup capsule collection that is introduced at the spring 2020 show.
2020
- Akoni, a start-up based in Switzerland cofounded by industry veteran Rosario Toscano, becomes the new eyewear licensee.
- The brand pivots to coed shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Rousteing marks the end of the lockdown in France — and the eve of couture — by loading up a barge with models wearing recent and archive Balmain designs, plus French singer Yseult.
2021
- Balmain partners with digital gaming platform Zepeto for digital clothing, one of several projects around the metaverse and NFTs.
- The spring 2022 show, dubbed Balmain Festival, features Doja Cat.
2022
- Fine jewelry launches with Adorisa Group, a jewelry specialist that is part of Alsara Investments Group, founded by Mayhoola’s CEO Rachid Mohamed Rachid.
- The company inks a beauty license collaboration with the Estée Lauder Cos. to launch Balmain Beauty.
- Balmain collaborates with Evian, Pokémon and Barbie.
- The third Balmain Festival is capped by performances by Shygirl, CKay and The Blaze — and a surprise appearance by Cher.
- Rousteing takes a turn as one-off guest couturier at Jean Paul Gaultier.
2023
- Around 50 pieces intended for Balmain’s spring 2024 show go missing after a truck carrying the collection was stolen. Rousteing and team pull together a full collection in days.
2024
- Balmain’s menswear returns to the runway in January.
- Balmain taps Givenchy executive Matteo Sgarbossa as CEO.
- The first Balmain Beauty offering makes its debut and the release of Les Éternels de Balmain launches the fashion house back into fragrance.
- Balmain Hair celebrates its 50th anniversary.
2025
- Balmain stages a show during Tampa Art Museum’s fundraising event.
- Rousteing receives the 2025 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT‘s annual luncheon.