Following Olivier Rousteing’s departure, French house Balmain has appointed fellow Frenchman Antonin Tron as its new creative director. An experienced designer, Tron rose to international prominence in 2016 when he founded Atlein, with which he won ANDAM’s First Collections Prize in 2018.

Antonin Tron will unveil his first collection for Balmain in March, for the Autumn/Winter 2026/27 season, and, according to international press reports, he will devote himself exclusively to the French maison, putting his own label on hold. Atlein’s most recent collection was shown on the Paris runways for Autumn/Winter 2025/26.
 
Highly regarded for his expertly cut jersey knitwear and distinctly sexy dresses, Tron has more recently turned his attention to sculptural tailoring and even outerwear.

A graduate of the renowned Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he was a classmate of Demna and Glenn Martens, Tron began his career designing menswear at Louis Vuitton, before moving on to Givenchy and Balenciaga, where he collaborated with various creative directors: Nicolas Ghesquière, Alexander Wang, and Demna himself. He has also worked with the creative teams at Saint Laurent.

“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: fashion that is radiant, precise and bold. This touches me deeply, and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to carry forward this incredible heritage.”
 
“We are thrilled to welcome Antonin to the Maison Balmain. 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 that develops around the human form with precision and emotion,” said Matteo Sgarbossa, Balmain’s CEO. “Antonin will build on the Maison’s heritage of creativity, craftsmanship, elegance and deep human values. We look forward to his first runway show for Balmain in Paris in March.”
 
“His thoughtful approach to design, rooted in craftsmanship and artistic sensibility, makes him an exciting talent for the Maison. Together with CEO Matteo Sgarbossa, Antonin will lead Balmain towards a new, compelling future—one that will pay tribute to its legendary history while confidently shaping a future defined by creativity, modernity and elegance,” added Rachid Mohamed Rachid, CEO of the Qatar-based Mayhoola fund and chairman of Balmain.