“As a kid, I would watch football games on the television with my dad,” says Olivier Rousteing, who till November 2025 served as Balmain‘s inventive director. “When we saw fans going to the Champs-Élysées to celebrate France winning, I would dream of being there someday.” Today the style designer, who grew up in Bordeaux however has lengthy resided in Paris, avoids the boulevard’s dense crowds, and as a substitute he explores the low-key ninth arrondissement for its rising artwork scene, retailers for one-of-a-kind furnishings and antiques at flea markets, and will get misplaced in the juxtaposition of “the city’s 18th-century influences” and up to date artwork museums. “Paris is all about the tension between heritage and modernity,” says Rousteing, who is aware of by no means to take his adopted residence as a right. “Now, living here as an adult, I have to remind myself, ‘Olivier, remember when you were a kid, you dreamed of living in Paris.’ ”
Flea Market Finds
On Sundays, Rousteing visits the “beautiful, vibrant” Marché d’Aligre for “the best organic fruit, fresh fish, and flowers,” he says. “It’s been going for more than 200 years, so it’s a real slice of old-school Parisian living.” He additionally meets buddies on the flea market at Porte de Clignancourt. “You never know what you’re going to fall in love with. I once found a striking 19th-century golden eagle, which is now in my hallway.” For equipment, the designer is “obsessed” with classic costume jeweler Dary’s on rue Saint-Honoré: “I love going there to browse for gifts. I’ve bought some lovely pieces for my mother.”
New traditions
Rousteing by no means tires of traditional Parisian eating experiences like at Caviar Kaspia on Place de la Madeleine. But certainly one of his haunts is the “cozy, hidden-away” Anahi, a small Argentinian steak restaurant in the Marais. He’s additionally loyal to Hotel Costes for dinner (“Going there with friends has become a tradition”) and the Ritz. “It’s my second home. I celebrate my birthday there. When I was younger, I visited with my grandmother, and going there reminds me of that special time.”