PHOENIX RISING

From the runways of Paris to the stills of Scotland, Olivier Rousteing—who revolutionised fashion with an unapologetic spirit of reinvention—now extends his midas touch to the world of rare whisky, where the art of couture meets the art of blending

- Dana Koh

Spring, summer, autumn, winter ... fashion, like life, moves in eternal seasons, each carrying its own poetry of renewal and reflection. It is a rhythm as old as time, yet within this cyclical dance, there are certain visionaries who manage to reinvent its very cadence.

Olivier Rousteing, the industry-redefining “Wonder Boy” of fashion and the creative director of Balmain, is such a force—a designer who renders each collection not merely a set of garments meant for the season, but also an act of transformation.

The Tatler team had the pleasure of working with Rousteing in New York to mark a groundbreaking collaboration—one that brings together the worlds of haute couture and rare spirits. We went into the interview planning to explore a story rooted in creation and craftsmanship. These are, after all, the common threads that string through his life's work and his latest feat as the first cultural collaborator of Johnnie Walker Vault—not just designing beautiful limited-edition bottles for the Couture Expression collection, each detail imbued with personal meaning, but also co-crafting each of the four rare whisky blends that make up the collection. What we came away with, however, was a narrative far more robust, warm and complex. We uncovered facets that reflect Rousteing's philosophies around resilience, metamorphosis and having the courage to bloom against all odds—and how his evolution has led him to orchestrate a symphony of seasons that extends far beyond the fashion runways.

THE MAKING OF A MAXIMALIST