Balmain's Olivier Rousteing reveals horrific burns caused by fireplace explosion

Fashion designer Olivier Rousteing suffered horrific burns in a terrifying incident last year.

Rousteing, who serves as creative director of luxury house Balmain, took to Instagram on Saturday to share a photo of himself with bandages covering his head and the top half of his torso.

In the accompanying caption, he explained that the image was taken a year ago, not long after he was badly burned when a fireplace exploded inside of his Paris home.

"I finally feel ready to share this. I've been hiding this for too long and it's time for you to know. Exactly a year ago, the fireplace inside my house exploded. I woke up the next morning in Paris' Hôpital Saint Louis," he recalled. "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. I did everything to hide this story from as many people as possible and trying to keep the secret with my teams and friends for too long."

Rousteing went on to note that he felt the need to conceal his scars as a result of the fashion industry's "obsession with perfection".

And while his recovery was a long process, the designer threw himself into working on his upcoming collections.

"I just worked days and night to forget and creating all my collections, trying to keep the world dreaming with my collections and at the same time hiding the scars with face masks, turtlenecks, long sleeves and even multiple rings on all my fingers through many interviews or photoshoots," the 36-year-old continued. "I truly realized that the power of social media is to reveal only what you want to show!"

To conclude, Rousteing thanked his team at Balmain for their support, and praised the care of the medical experts who nursed him back to health.