Fantasy VR Experience Takes You Inside Balmain Designer's Mind

Ever wondered what goes on in the head of a fashion designer? Well, wonder no more, as luxury French fashion house Balmain has just launched a VR experience which takes customers into the fantastical mind of its creative director, Olivier Rousteing.

Created by MPC's content production studio, MPC Creative, and Sunshine, My City of Lights involves a five-minute 'journey' through intricately-crafted Parisian scenes, such as a cavernous baroque hall, a room ablaze with fire and an abstract landscape with growing staircases, which 'metaphorically represent' the creative milestones behind each Balmain collection, as well as the 'fear, inspiration and emotion' that Rousteing encounters when creating a new runway offering. Even the notoriously clunky equipment has been given a high-fashion touch, as the brand worked with Oculus to design a slick, bespoke headset.

The technical demands of the project presented some unique challenges for the MPC Creative team, requiring them to create everything from their own animation systems to particle shaders and glass-shattering simulations within a tight five-week timeframe. To accompany the stunning CG visuals - which were created directly in Unreal Engine - they also designed a bespoke, immersive 360 soundscape.

“This has been an incredible campaign for us, working with the brilliant mind of Olivier Rousteing alongside the teams at Balmain and Sunshine, creating an installation that not only offers a uniquely memorable and beautiful experience but also a new form of communication between the brand and customers," says Pete Conolly, creative director, MPC Creative. “This unique project has allowed MPC to push our realtime offer in an exciting new direction, allowing us to focus in detail on some of the more artful sides of the creative process that we love, and combining our collective knowledge of architecture, atmospheric lighting visual effects and sound design into a single, fluidly coherent piece."

Launched to introduce Balmain's new Milan store, the VR experience is the first offering from Balmain Wonderlabs, the brand’s entertainment and innovation division, marking the beginning of a shift in the house’s marketing strategy.

Rousteing's appetite for all things technological came through strongly in Balmain's S/S2018 catwalk show, with a collection inspired by social media, which was accompanied by a limited-edition Snapchat filter - billed as "the world's first digital accessory" - to give users the optimum selfie [below].

It's not the first time fashion has dabbled in the world of VR: Topshop's customers sat on the front row at its 2014 London Fashion Week show, while British designer Gareth Pugh designed a trippy VR experience in a booth to mark his capsule collection at Selfridges department store [below].