Balmain launches The Together Project

Luxury fashion house Balmain has announced its new initiative, The Together Project.

The initiative focuses on the relationships between artists and the people who are most important to them, exploring them in various mediums and creations from different artists. The project will give free reign to an esteemed artist each year, with the purpose of creating art that reflects the many ways for people to come together.

Balmain is collaborating on this project with Greek director and visual artist, Evangelia Kranioti. For the exhibition, Kranioti filmed and photographed a variety of subjects - songwriter and model Rina Sawayama alongside her mother, choreographer and acrobat Yoann Bourgeois and his wife, and adult film star and entertainer Allannah Star.

The films present “intimate musings on the beauty of affection and intimacy - while adding more poignant and sometimes darker reflections of fears, tragedies, disease, rejection and fragility.”

Balmain will sell postcard-sized video stills taken from Kranioti’s work, donating the proceeds to Red, an organisation focused on strengthening health systems. The proceeds will help Red raise money for The Global Fund’s work in fighting AIDS and Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Everyone loves to focus on fashion’s social media and digital evolution,” said Olivier Rousteing, creative director at Balmain. “Evangelia Kranioti’s beautiful work reflects those truths and her ‘Together’ exhibition is a perfect way for us to begin our new ‘Together Project’.”

The Together Project was inspired by #BalmainEnsemble, a movement that began during the early days of the pandemic and highlighted the importance of community and relationships.

Sofitel Hotels and Resorts, Leica and Paris’ Galerie Sator have partnered with Balmain in order to make the donation to Red possible.

The first exhibition is displayed inside the Balmain stand during this year’s Paris Photo, which runs from November 11 to 14. Kranioti’s The Together Project artworks will be available for purchase, with a percentage of the sales going to Red.

“If the pandemic taught us anything,” said Rousteing, “it’s that we all still need actual contact, communication and companionship - for when we are actually together, we are stronger, healthier, happier.”