Balmain, the new creative director is Antonin Tron
It was a lightning change at the top of the Balmain maison, which has already chosen its new creative director: he will be Antonin Tron, 41, designer of the Parisian brand Atlein. The appointment comes after the recent farewell of Olivier Rousteing, who led the fashion house for fourteen years. Tron will present its first collection for Balmain in March 2026 during the Paris fashion week dedicated to the autumn-winter 2026/27 collections.
Tron graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, which he attended together with two other protagonists of the contemporary creative scene: Demnac, creative director of Gucci, and Glenn Martens, who heads Diesel and also Maison Margiela. After experiences at Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Balenciaga, he founded his own brand in 2016, which, according to press rumours, he will temporarily put on standby to devote himself entirely to the development of Balmain. The French fashion house was taken over in 2016 by the Qatar fund Mayhoola, which also owns a majority stake in Valentino.
"I am deeply honoured to join Balmain and grateful to Mr Rachid and Matteo for entrusting me with this extraordinary Maison. I would like to express my gratitude to Olivier Rousteing for making Balmain the global brand it is today," said Tron. Balmain has a truly inspiring history. At its heart, the Maison embodies savoir-faire, culture, sensuality and elegance: radiant, precise and bold fashion. This touches me deeply and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to continue this incredible heritage'.
"We are thrilled to welcome Antonin to the Balmain Maison. Antonin's approach to design, rooted in the art of draping and the physicality of fabric, marks a continuation of Pierre Balmain's fundamental belief that 'tailoring is the architecture of movement'. Like Balmain, Antonin sees fashion as a spatial art, developing around the human form with precision and emotion. Antonin will build on the Maison's heritage of creativity, craftsmanship, elegance and deep human values. We look forward to his first show for Balmain in Paris in March,' said Matteo Sgarbossa ad of Balmain.
