Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing celebrates diversity and twists classicism in Paris

Usher unleashed a photographer's battle at Balmain on Friday, as he appeared at Paris Fashion Week alongside towering model Cindy Bruna.

The designer, Olivier Rousteing said of the typically glamazon-filled fashion collection, that it was a celebration of his personal journey.

Here are some highlights of ready-to-wear shows for fall-winter 2020.

US singer Usher Raymond IV aka Usher and US actress Shailene Woodley attend the Balmain fashion show.

BALMAIN CELEBRATES DIVERSITY AND TRADITIONS

An orphan from posh Bordeaux, where doors were closed to him because of his race, Rousteing said he explored how those same doors suddenly flung open when he became a top designer in Paris.

"I learned from an early age that certain classes, clubs and cliques were closed off to someone who looked like me,” he said.

Models present creations for Balmain during the Women's Fall-Winter 2020-2021 Ready-to-Wear collection fashion show in Paris.

In that vein, in the display, he delivered a street-cred makeover to traditional styles - such as silk scarf patterns, classic equestrian looks and the signature harlequin crisscross patterns - ones executed in cognacs and intense blues on rich fabrics such as jersey.

PARIS FASHION WEEK AFFECTED BY CORONA FEARS

Unlike in Milan, on the face of things, the anxieties over the new coronavirus have been imperceptible at Paris Fashion Week - apart from the appearance of an occasional respiratory mask at shows. But there has been a few jitters.

A model presents a creation for Balmain during the show.

But Paris' fashion federation said earlier this week that six Chinese brands canceled their planned events in Paris because of the outbreak .

The absences - of Masha Ma, Shiatzy Chen, Uma Wang, Jarel Zhang, Calvin Luo and Maison Mai - have produced gaps during some days' normally back-to-back calendar shows.

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The federation said in a statement that it will try to promote the brands online instead and "will make available all its communications platforms to allow these brands to share the work they had planned to present both in France and overseas."