Balmain

When news broke a few months ago that Balmain was launching a more affordable second line, the question on everyone’s mind was: “How much will a T-shirt cost?” The answer? About $172.

The first collection for Pierre Balmain (as the lower-priced line will be called) will hit stores this December for Spring 2012, WWD is reporting. The prices will range from $172 for a tee to $1,291 for eveningwear. Not exactly Zara prices, but certainly more attainable than the main line. The line will include men’s and women’s categories. Balmain has its sights set on the international market with this line, with planned store openings in Hong Kong, Milan, Paris, and Rome.

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Happy birthday, Style.com! The granddaddy of all fashion sites turns 10 this week, and its celebrating with a limited edition run of t-shirts created by ten top designers. We got a sneak peek of the first five tees, made by Lanvin, Alex Wang, Givenchy, Proenza Schouler, and Balmain.

Nicole Phelps, one of our favorite runway show reviewers and executive editor of Style, says that the staff wanted to give the designers “a blank canvas to work with. Plus, people love tees. Ours are a nice, affordable $45 and a portion of the proceeds go to Computers For Youth.” The common denominator? Each designer used the roman numeral X in their work.

We’re partial to Lanvin‘s iteration, mostly because we’re partial to Alber’s sketches. But you know, Proenza‘s isn’t bad either. Nor is Givenchy’s. In reality , they’re all equally fantastic.

Want one of these slouchy stunners for yourself? They’ll be for sale at Style.com’s mobile pop-up shop in Madison Square Park on September 15, on the site September 16. Click through to see the designer’s work.

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Dear Tour de France Organizers,

First of all, we would like to congratulate Alberto Contador on winning this prestigious race. Truly an amazing achievement. It was an exciting competition this year, even though some of us may have been forced to watch against our will.

However, we would like to offer some sartorial suggestions for next year’s Tour. While we don’t really love the tight spandex worn by the riders, we completely understand the necessity and functionality of this garb. Our concern is not the cyclists.

Indeed, it is the so-called “podium girls,” or those who doll out the awards each evening. We understand that they are a long-standing Tour tradition. We will avoid NASCAR comparisons and let our colleagues over at Jezebel critique the inherent chauvinism.

The outfits that these women wear are absolutely unacceptable.

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Kate Beckinsale is Classy in Cannes, While Diane Kruger and January Jones Keep it Casually Chic

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Starting this morning, pieces from Michael Jackson’s This is It wardrobe will up for auction through Los Angeles-based Nate D. Sanders. A pair of orange skinny jeans, presumably from Dior Homme, is already on the block, while a sport coat will appear later on in the week. Unfortunately, for those rich enough/obsessed with Michael Jackson/obsessed [...]

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We’re done gawking at Balmain‘s obscenely priced t-shirt, but today we kept shouting, “What?!” 1. Socks in shoes. This is like troempe l’oiel clothing, which we’ve railed against in the past, but why would you buy shoes with socks sewn in when you can buy the same shoe without a sock and choose whether or [...]

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I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in the past two years–Swedish glaciers in the Grand Palais, Courtney Love performing in a gas station, Karl Lagerfeld drinking Diet Coke out of a crystal goblet in Madison Square Park–but nothing’s so completely insane as this Balmain t-shirt. It’s $1,625. That’s one thousand, six hundred and twenty-five [...]

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FW09 was the season of the Bad Girl, epitomized by Balmain’s super-short mini dresses and edgy shoulders. Nowadays, the masses are sporting studs, metal hardware, chunky black boots, etc. It’s an overall hardcore look that’s available to purchase everywhere from Barneys to Forever 21. So naturally it’s time for a black backlash. Technically the backlash [...]

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Shopping

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Quote of the Day

“And new-millennium Balmain has definitely caught the fashion moment, as well as the attention of a whole wide world of bloggers, Tweeters and cyberspace image makers. They see in Mr. Decarnin the vibe of the moment: love it, grab it, own it, have fun with it. MySpace is his space.” –Suzy Menkes in her interesting [...]

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