Designer Antonin Tron has unveiled his inaugural menswear collection for Balmain, presenting it alongside his latest womenswear designs for the Resort 2027 season.
Key facts
- •Antonin Tron debuted his first-ever menswear collection for Balmain alongside his Resort 2027 womenswear.
- •The collection features shared materials across both lines, including treated denim, snakeskin jacquards, and embroidery.
- •Tron’s menswear tailoring was designed to address his personal dissatisfaction with existing market options, focusing on a 'surfer’s suiting' silhouette.
- •Key influences for the menswear line include surfer David Nuuhiwa and musicians Lou Reed and Andrew Eldritch.
- •The designer stated that he views the men’s and women’s collections as a single entity intended to 'talk to each other.'
Antonin Tron has introduced his first-ever menswear collection for Balmain, debuting the line as part of his pre-spring Resort 2027 offerings. The designer emphasized a cohesive vision for the house, treating the men’s and women’s wardrobes as a single entity. By utilizing shared materials across both collections, Tron aims to create a dialogue between the two styles while maintaining distinct silhouettes tailored to his specific vision for the brand.
Shared Materials and Aesthetic Vision
Tron’s approach to the Resort 2027 collection relies on material continuity, with embroidered surfaces, treated denim, and snakeskin jacquards appearing in both the men’s and womenswear lines. While the materials are shared, their application is calibrated differently for each gender. The womenswear collection continues the theme of 'luxuriously louche' glamour, featuring sensuously draped dresses, sheer lurex blouses, and asymmetric ruffles, often paired with cropped flight jackets or biker leathers to introduce a sense of dishevelment.
Menswear Design and Influences
For his debut menswear, Tron focused on creating pieces he personally desired, specifically addressing frustrations with existing tailoring blocks that he found either too narrow or oversized. The resulting 'surfer’s suiting' features strong shoulders and a defined waist. The collection incorporates utilitarian elements, such as heavy cotton canvas trousers with articulated knees and riveted pockets, alongside leather tailoring and leopard-print silks. Tron cites diverse influences for the menswear, ranging from the 1990s style of Brad Pitt and the gothic aesthetic of Lou Reed and Andrew Eldritch to the experimental spirit of 1960s and 70s Hawaiian surfer David Nuuhiwa.
Philosophy of Luxury and Sexuality
Tron rejects the idea that luxury fashion must adhere to traditional bourgeois standards of propriety. He views Balmain as a space to articulate sexuality rather than apologize for it, noting that his focus on sexiness is tied to class-based notions of elegance. By blending dressing up and dressing down, the collection seeks to dissolve the tension between formal luxury and casual, weathered surfaces.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by Vogue.
