Diffusions seem to be the new black, and Balmain isn’t counting themselves out of this oh-so-hot revenue generator.  Though this may seem like an ideal cash cow, the concept is wrought with issues and essentially collapse a brand’s vision, integrity and lust factor; everything brands pay massive dollars to obtain.

Diffusion lines are essentially sanctioned knockoffs; the quality is far below that of the true brand and the pieces aren’t even comparable.  Diffusion lines also cheapen and destroy the brands they are meant to push forward; when we take Rodarte x Target into consideration, the range did have interesting pieces but the collection did not represent the brand which created the storm of “I want!” in the first place.  While the diffusion was successful on a monetary standpoint, it was a failure on a design level.

This leaves us to wonder what level of diffusion Balmain is entertaining, though one can’t imagine that one of the most sought after labels of the moment would go for  less than a high street market.  The only possible way this may be negotiated successfully is if the diffusion is done by Topshop; Balmain demands high quality materials and considerable construction efforts.. anything less than a Topshop Unique level of [high street] quality would be a disaster.

While it’s a fair assumption critics and collectors are equally curious at what will be churned out, though deep down we’re wishing Balmain was remaining perfectly inaccessible.