Photo: Imaxtree

3. Christophe Decarnin leaving Balmain:
Fall 2011 Fashion Week in Paris was dramatic enough with the whole Galliano situation unfolding, but things got even darker when the creative mind behind Balmain was not present at his show in March, reportedly due to a nervous breakdown that landed him in a mental hospital. It wasn’t long before it was revealed that Decarnin had been absent from the label for months—likely due to creative differences with the brand’s management—and that the collection was taken over by his in-house team and stylist Melanie Ward. The young (and very hot) Balmain womenswear designer Olivier Rousteing was promptly promoted to fill Decarnin’s position, but news of his departure and his possible buckling under the pressure of his position came as a very sad shock.