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Balmain Names Antonin Tron Creative Director, Succeeding Olivier Rousteing

Executives cast his drape-first approach as a return to the founder’s craft-focused ethos.

Overview

  • Tron, 41, starts this month and will present his first Balmain collection in Paris in March 2026 for the fall-winter 2026 season.
  • He is pausing his Atlein label to focus exclusively on Balmain.
  • Balmain chairman Rachid Mohamed Rachid and CEO Matteo Sgarbossa highlighted Tron's draping and fabric-centric method, invoking Pierre Balmain’s maxim that dressmaking is the architecture of movement.
  • Tron succeeds Olivier Rousteing, whose 14-year tenure raised the brand’s cultural profile and sales, with trade reports estimating revenue around €300 million and accessories at roughly 30% of the business.
  • The appointment lands during a wider creative reshuffle at major luxury houses in a softer market for high-end fashion.