To celebrate his 10th anniversary as creative director of the house of Balmain last month, Olivier Rousteing staged the kind of spectacle only a designer with his audacious vision could pull off. Featuring 6,000 attendees, a performance from Doja Cat, runway walks from the likes of Naomi Campbell and Carla Bruni, and a voiceover celebrating his work courtesy of Beyoncé, it capped Rousteing’s decade at the house with all the brilliant bombast that has become his unmistakable signature.

But there was another reason for this celebratory spirit, too, as he revealed to reporters following the show. In October of last year, Rousteing suffered severe burns after a fireplace at his home exploded, which he explained came to inform the collection with its notable sense of ease and comfort. And today, Rousteing opened up about his ordeal publicly for the first time, posting an image of himself to Instagram that was taken soon after leaving hospital, with his upper body almost entirely bandaged to aid his recovery.

“I finally feel ready to share this,” wrote Rousteing. “I’ve been hiding this for too long and it’s time for you to know.” As well as sharing details of the experience itself, he paid a heartfelt tribute to the medical staff who helped him on his journey back to recovery. “I woke up the next morning in Paris’s Hôpital Saint-Louis,” he continued. “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.”