Christophe Decarnin Misses Balmain Bow, Reportedly Suffering From Nervous Breakdown

Designer Christophe Decarnin left many questions unanswered after missing his bow at the end of the Balmain show in Paris on Thursday.

Alain Hivelin, Balmain's owner, explained to the Telegraph that Decarnin was "tired, after working on the collection. No, he's NOT retired. He's just tired. He didn't go to bed until 5 a.m. He's not here, he's resting."

But it might not be as simple as that.

WWD writes: "The designer was absent under doctor's orders, after having recently been released from the hospital, where he was said to have been treated for depression. A Balmain spokesman said Decarnin was involved in the design. This season, he worked with a new stylist, Melanie Ward, who replaced Emmanuelle Alt, who is focusing full-time on French Vogue."

Hint Mag claims that the designer is still at a mental hospital, following a nervous breakdown two months ago -- "Decarnin is said to have disappeared one day in mid-January. Soon after, according to our source, it was announced to employees that he would not be returning." Hint also writes that Decarnin did not work on the fall collection.

A spokesperson told The Daily Beast that Decarnin "is not feeling well" and "by doctor's orders needs rest, and that is the only reason he was not present at the show." Isabel Wilkinson writes: "The spokesperson says that the rumors about a breakdown from drugs and the mental hospital are 'completely untrue.' The spokesperson wouldn't say the cause of his ailment, only that it was 'not anything physical.'"

Comments

[tyrant510]

03:03 PM on 03/04/2011

good luck to mr. decarnin, a very talented designer.

[medusamadeinusa]

02:47 PM on 03/04/2011

I feel bad for him because he has the potential to make Balmain a big player in fashion.

[Christopher Koulouris]

01:38 PM on 03/04/2011

All of which begs, why the mystery, the conflicting reports, the lack of full disclosure, and what is it about being a fashion designer or creative that can make someone mad (or can one just wonder that creatives are more prone to going mad or at least more cognizant of their madness, which to some degree every living person is). And after we have asked all these questions we ought to ask one more question, why has been fallible such a sudden taboo in the fashion world- which is to say, at the end of the day, how much is tied up to an image of the line at even the expense of the designer themselves?

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/03/christopher-decarnin-paris-next-fashion-designer-on-the-skids/

[steph81]

11:19 AM on 03/04/2011

Must be that time if the month

[PaycheckToPaycheck]

11:51 AM on 03/04/2011

lame - even without the bad editing job

[jerry23]

10:57 AM on 03/04/2011

What is amazing to me, is the lack of insight concerning the amount of responsibility that is burdened by the designers who are front people for major corporations. However frivolous the opinions are here, these designers are responsible for "putting food on tables" much like the front people for other Major industries. Yes ,nourishing meals that keep real people off Bread Lines. I was involved in the High Fashion Business in NYC when I was young. It was consuming in the amount of attention required to tread the water just to stay viable.

Plus , you could measure the Loyalties with an Eye Dropper.

[famous painter]

10:29 AM on 03/04/2011

Need to send these dudes to BOOT CAMP to help themsuss out the true meaning of 'tired' and 'stressed'

[BrooklynChef]

10:53 AM on 03/04/2011

So if fashion designers are not allowed to suffer stress and clinical depression, for which profession is it acceptable?

[alsm9]

11:15 AM on 03/04/2011

Right, because you're an expert on the fashion industry and how business is done there. *rolls eyes*

[BuckyJamesDio]

10:21 AM on 03/04/2011

This could indicate a global shortage of fabulous.

[american-dolt]

10:18 AM on 03/04/2011

At least we aren't still carrying on about that other guy...jeeesh.

[ABQ-Mike]

09:53 AM on 03/04/2011

What's with these guys ? Have they collectively just realized what a pointless, empty, meaningless sham their lives are? Has the self-absorbed shallowness of their existence finally wormed its way into their consciousness?

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

10:20 AM on 03/04/2011

Depression is a serious problem. Doesn't mean the person suffering from it is shallow.

[Daisytoo]

11:30 AM on 03/04/2011

Your comment is interesting. In Lincoln's time, his depression was understood as an affliction that only people w/cultivated minds and sensitive dispositions suffer.

Of course, now depression is understood as a neurological bio-chemical disorder that afflicts the mind/body/spirit of the sufferer. Still, I think it's fair to say that very bright, sensitive people probably experience the dullness/flattening that depression causes more acutely than the average Joe.

[vegalili]

10:33 AM on 03/04/2011

Meaningless? Excuse me but these designers are brilliant and have created amazing collections over the course of their careers. They basically set the trend for each year in the multi billion dollar industry that is fashion. Have you seen McQueen's collections or the brilliant creativity that Galliano has showcased at his shows? I would hardly call it pointless. I'm just tired of people who just dismiss everything that has to do with fashion as something shallow when it's so much more... and a lot of hard work.

[ABQ-Mike]

11:02 AM on 03/04/2011

Yeah right and pigs can fly too.

[DustinTime]

09:45 AM on 03/04/2011

Designer meltdown is a sign of the coming collapse.

Given their intimate proximity, those folks know better than almost any how the ruling elite have @#$% up the system.

The minute you see Tom Ford running naked down Rodeo Drive, waving a gun and screaming about Obama and Hillary's still-unacknowledged appearance at the Bilderberg Group meeting in Chantilly, round up as much canned food as you can carry and head for the hills.

[henrypapillon]

09:43 AM on 03/04/2011

Geez, leave the guy alone. He wasn't going after anybody like Galliano, which is what the HP makes it sound like.

[Daisytoo]

10:17 AM on 03/04/2011

Agreed.

[PaycheckToPaycheck]

12:04 PM on 03/04/2011

exactly. He is actually seeking help instead of breaking down in public. that should be commended.

[jeana21]

09:41 AM on 03/04/2011

I really like the direction he sent Balmain in, they were teetering on bankruptcy and now fashion magazines are fighting over who will but their designs on their cover.

[garystartswithg]

10:16 AM on 03/04/2011

which is probably why Balmain wants to pretend he is just taking a little nap.

[jeana21]

02:03 PM on 03/04/2011

Hopefully he doesn't go out like McQueen...

[tpej]

09:37 AM on 03/04/2011

who really cares?

[chiodo08]

10:52 AM on 03/04/2011

I do...

[JJovana]

02:01 AM on 03/07/2011

obviously you since you cared to read and comment.

[UncleJimbo]

09:36 AM on 03/04/2011

Looks like Jeff Foxworthy hasn't been eating enough!......"You Might be a Redneck Designer If......"

[garystartswithg]

10:21 AM on 03/04/2011

I didn't know Jeff Foxworthy was French.

[GraceNotes]

09:16 AM on 03/04/2011

For many designers and fashion houses, this season may be literally make or break. The increased pressure to create a line that will get women and men to part with their money must be tremendous, more so than in past seasons.

[chiodo08]

09:31 AM on 03/04/2011

ever see the documentary Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs(title?)....the pressure is overwhelming. It's one thing to be creative, it's another to do it with a deadline and multi-million dollar industry riding on it...people have NO IDEA what that pressure is like, I know I don't....

[garystartswithg]

10:44 AM on 03/04/2011

Seems like Louis Vuitton should make enough money off all that god awful monogram stuff they could have left Marc Jacobs at least part of his sanity. .

[Ms Liann]

03:55 PM on 03/04/2011

Two more designer labels owned by a faceless corporation which also sell the Galliano and Dior labels. There is no more "Mr. Dior", no more "Mr. Louis Vuitton", no more "Mr. Galliano", and pretty soon, no more "Mr. Jacobs". The Galliano incident shows just how instantaneously the industry can ditch the head guy and pop in substitute.

Does anybody really believe that B&W dwarf can helm Dior while creating 180 other outfits for other labels each Fashion Week?