Balmain fashion designer reveals horrific burns after fireplace explosion

The Balmain designer has gotten candid about the injuries he suffered in a tragic home accident last year. Photo / Getty Images

Fashion house Balmain's creative director Olivier Rousteing has opened up about the tragic incident in his home that left him hospitalised.

"Exactly a year ago, the fireplace inside my house exploded," he shared with his 7 million Instagram followers over the weekend alongside a snap of his torso and arms in bandages for severe burns.

"I woke up the next morning in Paris' Hôpital Saint Louis. The talented staff at that famous hospital, which was dealing with an incredible number of Covid cases at that same time, took amazing care of me. I cannot thank them enough."

The designer admitted that until now, he had hidden his injuries from "as many people as possible", partly due to "this obsession with perfection that fashion is known for and my own insecurities".

Rousteing continued to work on new collections for the fashion house while recovering from his burns, wearing masks, turtlenecks and rings to cover up his injuries.

"And I truly realised that the power of social media is to reveal only what you want to show," he continued. "Kind of allowing us to create our own special narrative that avoids what we do not wish to see or show: this is our new world."

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The New York Times' Vanessa Friedman reported on September 30 that the accident happened last October, keeping the designer in and out of hospital for two months.

Rousteing has been a well-known designer since his early 20s and has dressed A-listers from Zendaya and Beyonce to the Kardashians.

Rousteing ended his Instagram post with a message of gratitude for God and his Balmain family with an eye on the future. "Today, I feel so free, so good and so lucky. I'm beginning a new chapter with a smile on my face and a heart full of gratitude."