Paris Fashion Week played host to just one debut this season — Antonin Tron at Balmain. The stakes were high for the Atlein founder’s first collection for the French heritage house on Wednesday. Would it be a departure from the bold, intricate aesthetic that defined Olivier Rousteing’s 14-year tenure at the house? What does Balmain look like without Rousteing?
There would be a different backdrop, to start. After years of being held in Parisian palaces and grand hotels, Tron held his first show in a former industrial site in the 14th arrondissement, with a set conceived by Berlin-based architect Andrea Faraguna, who draped a massive curtain through the room. Stars including Naomi Watts, Diane Kruger, Chaka Khan, Noomi Rapace, and Amanda Lear sat front row. With pilot-inspired leather jackets, drapey silk dresses, and animal prints, attendees say Tron managed to infuse his own take into Balmain’s signature style.
“What I wanted to convey with the show was this idea of minimal or controlled opulence,” Tron said backstage. “Pierre Balmain opened the house in 1945 right at the end of the war in France. I was really interested in his first impulse. So we tried on two gowns from 1946 and I was really shocked by how restrained they were. The first look is a pilot jacket because I read that Pierre Balmain dressed the first woman pilot in France. So there’s a nocturnal pilot and the 1940s’ references of film noir, but also the 1980s, the 1990s, almost this Lynchian glamour.”
The conflict in the Middle East prevented Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Balmain chair and CEO of the house’s Qatari parent company Mayhoola, from attending. Unable to fly, he watched the livestream instead. But Matteo Sgarbossa, who became CEO of Balmain in 2024, was there. “Antonin has really embraced the house of Balmain,” the executive told Vogue Business. “He understands the codes and foundations put in place by Pierre Balmain, but makes them right for today’s customer. He has a fantastic hand. His draping technique is incredible, and he has a wonderful ability to lead and inspire a team.”
Tron, 41, graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2008. After working for Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Balenciaga, he launched his own brand Atlein in 2016 in Paris. In 2017, he was an LVMH Prize finalist, while in 2018, he took home the Andam Grand Prize.
He took the creative helm of Balmain in November, a late entry to the great designer reshuffle.. Balmain, whose sales are estimated at €200 million according to industry sources, is not immune to the wider industry downturn, and it’s one of many luxury houses that have invested in new designers in order to reinvigorate sales and energy. Tron, in his new role, is working alongside Sgarbossa to chart the course for the 80-year-old house’s future.
Here’s what attendees had to say about the show.
Amanda Lear, French singer
I loved it — I wasn’t familiar with Antonin’s work. I’m glad he stayed true to a real couture tradition. He didn’t give in to this craze of making things ripped, destroyed, or dirty. I won’t name names! This collection was very beautiful.
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Richard Johnson, chief business officer at LuxExperience
The change in venue told the story before the first looks appeared. Balmain traded the palace for brutalism, though softened with sheer drapes that diffused the light through the windows. The collection followed the same idea: signature wide shoulders, sequined evening dresses, and leopard print were there, but the power was gentler, dissolving into fluid, feminine silhouettes. Balmain with a softer cadence: still confident, still sexy, but with a new sense of ease that made it feel like part of a woman’s wardrobe, not only for an occasion.
Alix Morabito, chief merchandising officer at Galeries Lafayette
Antonin proposed a very feminine and directional collection, keeping Balmain’s identity while opening the vocabulary to talk to a wider audience. He definitely shows his strong will to dress a real woman, emphasizing its body and sensuality.
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Loïc Prigent, journalist
It’s a very Balmain and very Antonin Tron collection — the best of both worlds. It’s an incredibly interesting moment for us journalists when we can watch a designer we’ve seen grow over a decade move to a major fashion house and make the most of the resources and heritage of that label. I thought it was very elegant that the first and last looks were presented by Amélie, the house model on whom the collection was developed. The crystal embroideries are very successful, and the draping looked chic from the front row, which is a good sign.
Romain Brau, artist, singer, and former classmate of Antonin Tron at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
It’s an achievement. It’s a battle he fought with Atlein, which nearly went under billions of times, because today being an independent designer is almost impossible. He won awards, fought to keep his brand — and his whole team — alive. He worked for Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent. Today, we see the result of everything he has learned. It’s chic. There is leather and silk. A woman who spends money today must feel elegant. Antonin hasn’t changed since Antwerp. He was already very studious, very intellectual, and very discreet.
Jean-Jacques Picart, fashion consultant
It will need small adjustments to feel even more like him, but the potential is obvious. Fans of Balmain under Olivier Rousteing need to find their bearings. I’ve found mine, because I’ve known Antonin for 10 years. I think it’s a very strong collection for the moment we are in where product is key. All these beautiful houses need to sell products.
