Rousteing is the first Black man to hold the position of creative director at Balmain, and one of just two Black designers to be at the helm of an LVMH-owned fashion house (the other is Louis Vuitton’s newly-installed Virgil Abloh ). In 2015, Rousteing told Out magazine that he faced discrimination as soon as his hiring was announced. “People were like, 'Oh my God, he’s a minority taking over a French house,'" he said. “For me, I’m just French. Yeah, I’m Black, but go out into the street — there’s Black, white, Chinese, Arab…” The designer has also been outspoken about the lack of diversity across the industry