Open to thousands IRL (and live-streamed to many thousands more) the third Balmain Festival highlighted the house’s unique passion for the perfect trio of friendship, fashion and music. But, of course, that’s not all—the Balmain Festival also continued to raise funds in support of the essential work of (RED) and The Global Fund in the fight to end AIDS within our lifetime.

“Cher’s history of successes, records, awards, activism and culturally defining moments is way too long to even think of listing here—but I do believe that it can easily be summed up in just one word: trailblazer. Cher has been a daring pioneer, a true trailblazer, for over six decades, never slowing down, always pulling us along with her, as she courageously marches forward. She may have been crowned the “Goddess of Pop,” but she’s definitely shown us that she can rule every possible musical genre—from folk to stadium rock—while somehow managing to move us to tears in her dramatic roles and making us laugh like nobody else can when she opts for comedy. “Style icon” doesn’t come close to describing her achievement of defining more than a half-century’s worth of fashion’s trends. And, in this challenging age that compels us to fight for long-overdue changes, her impressive, long-term commitment to dedicated activism is an example to all. Knowing all that, I knew that we had to have Cher on the runway with us today to close this year’s festival.”

Olivier Rousteing