Introducing the new man at Balmain: Antonin Tron

Antonin Tron is the new Creative Director of Balmain, effective this month following the departure of Olivier Rousteing, whose impressive 14-year tenure saw the French house’s revenues grow ten-fold. 41-year-old Tron is the designer behind the decade-old Paris brand Atlein, a label renowned for its artisanal draping and manipulation of jersey – “as good as Alaia’s,” Hamish Bowles said while reporting Vogue’s September 2016 profile of the designer—as well as its thoughtful and respectful take on femininity (variously fueled by feminist, gender, and environmental theorists, writers, and artists). Tron will show his debut collection for Balmain for fall 2026 in March of next year.

“Balmain has a truly inspiring history,” Tron says. “At its heart, the house embodies savoir-faire, culture, sensuality, and elegance—fashion that is radiant, precise, and bold. This resonates deeply with me, and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to build on this incredible legacy.” Matteo Sgarbossa, Balmain’s Chief Executive Officer, remarks: “We are thrilled to welcome Antonin to the house of Balmain. Antonin’s approach to design, rooted in the art of draping and the physicality of fabric, marks a continuation of Pierre Balmain’s foundational belief that ‘dressmaking is the architecture of movement’.” Meanwhile, Mr. Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Mayhoola CEO and Balmain Chairman (Balmain is owned by Mayhoola group), says, “We are exceptionally pleased to welcome Antonin Tron to the group and to Balmain. His thoughtful approach to design, rooted in craftsmanship and artistic sensitivity, makes him an exciting talent for the house.”

Tron and I go way back to February 2016. We met via the English writer Kerry Olsen, who was friends with Tron’s Italian partner Gabriele Forte. At her mention of an interesting new designer launching his own brand, I duly trotted up to the 11th arrondissement to Tron’s apartment, which I remember for his collection of Vallauris pottery (I’m also a fan) and a rack of the most exquisitely rendered jersey pieces. His earliest designs were liquid and sinuous, but also blessed with rigor and precision. It’s a combination that’s entirely reflective of the person who made them; Tron’s questioning intelligence is complemented by his considerable emotional empathy.

On that initial visit, I discovered he’d studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and was maintaining a day job at Balenciaga (he started with Nicolas Ghesquière, then worked alongside Alexander Wang and Demna, who became something of a mentor to him). Before that he had stints at Givenchy, with the stylist Olivier Rizzo, Raf Simons, and Paul Helbers at Louis Vuitton. More recently, he worked at Saint Laurent. In turn, I duly told just about every one of my colleagues at American Vogue about him and his label, and they duly trotted up to see him, as well; as did the Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus teams when I told them about Tron at our then-customary biannual Vogue breakfast catch-up at the Ritz. (Bergdorf’s snapped up Atlein.)

Six months later, in which time Tron had won an ANDAM Prize for his debut Atlein collection, Hamish’s story was published. He’d asked him what it was like to be in the vanguard of a new Paris, what with labels like Paco Rabanne being led by Julien Dossena and Christelle Kocher’s Koché. “It’s a very exciting moment,” Tron said, “because a lot of things can be redefined—a lot of rules that used to be applied aren’t relevant anymore. There is a big space for different kinds of expression.”

Related: Olivier Rousteing exits Balmain

Since then, Tron has been as good as his word. His Atlein (which he’s putting on pause) is built on his technical skills – he drapes everything on a mannequin, expressing everything in three dimensions. And his consummate research and thoughtful, sensitive storytelling has variously alighted on: the ’90s; social activism; futuristic eco-tech fabrications; radical art; and the emotional and mental succor to be had from riding the waves (he’s an ardent surfer, in California, or in his beloved Île de Ré in France). Through everything he has exalted women, and the responsibility that comes with dressing them.

All of which brings us to Balmain. In his statement, Tron rightly pays tribute to the immense and incredible legacy that Rousteing left after his remarkable transformation of the house. “I wish to express my gratitude to Olivier Rousteing,” Tron says, “for building Balmain into the global brand it is today.”

As for Tron’s Balmain, what can we expect? To have access to its studio and to its craftspeople and technicians will be a dream for Tron, having valiantly created his own collections for years now without those kinds of resources. He’s someone who’ll continue to think about designing for women, now from a historic house, but still through the lens of today, while also understanding that clothes have to be in conversation with who those women are, and what they want, and how they choose to express their femininity, their bodies, their gender and sexuality, in ways that are anything but cartoon-y or cliched. And there will be surprises, I am sure. When I chat with Tron backstage, I come away not just with soundbites, but also some new and unheard of reading material to dive into.

Tron is a thinker, and a feel-er, and a do-er – and suddenly, the stage for him, thanks to Balmain, has just gotten a whole lot bigger.