Winning at life, to us, is waking up before the first snooze button, actually, or making it to that 8AM SLT class or, you know, when Starbucks fucks up and gives us a free latte. But that all completely changed the moment we met Olivier Rousteing, who, at just age 30 (guys, did you see his birthday celebration?) has taken the helm at one of the most luxurious French fashion houses ever, while ultimately wooing an army of lithe-y celebs and models with his intricately beaded and his seriously infectious charm (really, we dare you not to fall in love with him at first meet) to create what we consider one hell of a squad.
All this was especially obvious when we caught up with the designer and model, slash, member of his Balmain Army, Constance Jablonski, amidst a particularly hectic fitting for his Balmain x H&M presentation. Rousteing gave us insight into how he manages to head a major label, run a pretty strong social game all while staying in amazing health. Oh, and Jablonski got into the conversation with us, too.
ON HIS COLLABORATION WITH H&M:
Olivier Rousteing: “Yeah! It’s amazing.”
Constance Jablonski: “I mean look at me—that’s all you have to say.”
ON HOW LONG HIM AND CONSTANCE HAVE KNOWN EACHOTHER:
OR: “I think I [have] known her since even before I was the Balmain Creative Director. She’s always been part of the Balmain DNA. She’s always been part of the French luxury houses. So at the end of the day for me, I knew her, and I already had a lot of respect and love for her. And I was Christophe [Decarnin]’s right hand before leaving Balmain, and I knew her from fittings and everything. And after, I think, our relationship got stronger because she was part of the Balmain story at the beginning. And I started to know her more and more, and now we are, like, spending holidays together.”
ON STAYING HEALTHY AMIDST A CRAZY SCHEDULE:
CJ: “He has a really good tip actually.”
OR: “[Laughs] Lemon water. We love lemon water.”
CJ: “I love to work out. Working out is a good way to stay healthy and stay strong. It’s good to fight jetlag, because, you know, you can do it in the evening to be more tired and it helps you to go to bed, or if you wake up too early, you can just do a little workout and you are finally serene. And then you become stronger.”
ON THEIR WORKOUT ROUTINES:
CJ: “I mix it up. I love to workout, so I do cardio. I do so many things: I box, I do volleyball, I play tennis, I run, I do Pilates. I like to mix it up because I like to make it fun. I don’t like routine.”
OR: “Same. When I’m in Paris, I’m trained to go to bed pretty early. I’m finished my work pretty late, like 10:30PM or 11PM, but I tell you, before midnight, I’m in my bed. And I wake up usually at 6:30AM, and go into my gym at 7AM. I have a personal trainer everyday, I mean, four or five times during the week. And I box every morning, and I do cardio a lot also. And when I have the chance, there’s a pool in my gym, so I also swim. And that’s really, really good.”
CJ: “Swimming is good; it’s the best.”
OR: “Yes, it’s nice. It feels good when you’re in the water. So this is something that I do when I’m in Paris. And actually, when I’m in Mykonos—I mean, Mykonos because we spend some time there.”
CJ: “You didn’t know you can work out in Mykonos? [Laughs]”
OR: “Yes! If you get the right personal trainer and you wake every morning.”
ON LEMON WATER:
[Laughter]
CJ: “Oh! Actually Mykonos has a lot of amazing fruits, so on vacation when it’s hot… it’s easier to be healthier in the summer.”
OR: “Yeah. And there’s a lot of legumes.”
CJ: “A lot of octopus and fresh fish. Healthy food.”
ON THEIR HEALTH GOALS:
CJ: “For me, I just want to feel good in my body. Working out is more like a therapy. It’s a good thing for your mental [health].”
OR: “Completely.”
CJ: “I don’t really have a goal. It’s not like, ‘On this date I have to be ready. I have to be in this shape.’”
OR: “Yeah, I agree.”
CJ: “The whole year long, I feel, because we work so hard, we’re always so busy, it’s just a routine more than anything else.”
OR: “Yes, she’s right. I think you can really lose that healthy way of life, because you work late, you have dinners, you have parties, professional things—you always have something going on. At the beginning of my career, I think I was not so into exercising and everything. But I realized that I can lose myself a lot, so really exercise for me is important. My goal is to be good, to be healthy because I feel like [it is good for] my soul. I want that my soul is good.”
CJ: “Feeling good inside and out.”
OR: “Yes.”
ON HOW THEY STAY GROUNDED:
OR: “Boxing. If you box everyday, you will take out all your frustration and all your stress, and you don’t punch anyone during your day. It’s really, really good. [Laughs]”
ON STAYING HYDRATED:
CJ: “Lemon water.”
OR: “Look at the table—it’s water and lemon water. And sometimes some Starbucks with green tea.”
CJ: “I’m actually really bad about hydration. I drink way too much coffee. I’m going to try to slow down on the coffee.”
OR: “I don’t drink so much coffee. I drink more Diet Coke, which is not good either.”
ON THE WEIRDEST THINGS THEY'VE EVER TRIED IN THE NAME OF HEALTH:
OR: “Placenta. No, no! [Laughs]”
CJ: “You know, I’ve heard of that before. I don’t even want to know how it tastes.
I actually did one once—a diet. I was doing a run and I wanted to prepare for the half-marathon. So anyway, to make a long story short, they had told me that the best regime before that is to stop [eating] sugar completely for ten days or let’s say one week, right before the marathon. And the day before you eat sugar and because your body is missing sugar so much, it takes everything and it keeps it for the next day. When I say no sugar, I mean no fruits, no vegetables (like beets, carrots), because there is actually sugar in everything. And it is so hard, you have no idea. It’s honestly the craziest regime ever because you become so tense. We don’t realize how much sugar we need and how much we eat all the time. It’s one of the hardest diets ever. Hardest.”
ON COOKING FOR THEMSELVES:
OR: “I don’t cook for myself; I don’t know how to. [Laughs]”
ON FAVORITE SNACKS:
CJ: “I love snacks. I love chocolates.”
OR: “Yeah, yeah.”
CJ: “You know, simple, just like a box of chocolate.”
OR: “Yeah, pure.”
ON THEIR GUILTY PLEASURES:
CJ: “I mean, I eat so much popcorn. Every time I go to the movie theater, I need one of those big, American popcorn. I feel like it’s so funny to have it.”
OR: “M&M’s for me.”
ON HOW THE IDEA OF BEING HEALTHY HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS:
OR: “I think it becomes more and more important; also because you get older. I try really to go for like ten days or eight days and detox from France. I went to Montreux, La Prairie. It’s a really nice center for detox; for ten days, you literally don’t eat sugar, you have a shrink that you go to see everyday, and you have medical exams everyday to check your blood, and making sure you don’t have not too much sugar or too much salt. After, you have a lot of work with a personal trainer. [There are] a lot of facials and things for the body.”
CJ: “It’s an amazing retreat.”
OR: “It’s really, really nice. It’s far away from everything. Montreux in the mountains. Everything is amazing there. You feel fresh when you’re back. And your soul feels really pure.
ON WHAT THEY EAT FOR BREAKFAST:
OR: “Actually, I don’t eat breakfast. I can’t eat anything before lunch. I need to drink my water, lemon juice, that’s it. Like really hot water, and that’s it until lunch.”
CJ: “I like sweets for breakfast; I’m like very French. I love either granola or honey and like healthy bread. Or granola and yogurt.”
ON THE ADVICE THEY WOULD GIVE ANYONE WHO IS TRYING TO BE HEALTHIER:
CJ: “The best tip would be to workout or try to find an activity on the side—whatever works for you—that keeps you serene. If it’s working out, if it’s meditation, yoga, a healthier diet as well—something that just keeps you serene. That’s really important, because there’s so much stress.”
OR: “I think you have to listen to your body. Everybody has his own tip at the end of the day. You have to learn. Some people always say, ‘I need to sleep more,’ and some people say, ‘I need to exercise more.’ Me, for example, I don’t need more sleep. I need to box. So, I think it’s just about listening to your body. And some people are avoiding it or forget to listen. So that’s the tip I would say: listen to your body. We all have different bodies, different minds, but I think that it’s important to have this moment of reflection and listen to yourself.”