Girl gone wild: Antonin Tron gets bolder at Balmain
For Spring-Summer 2027, Antonin Tron brought more sex and attitude into his second collection for Balmain. Anders Christian Madsen reviews the show.
Before his Balmain show at Hôtel de Maisons, Antonin Tron was gesturing at the high-slit pencil skirts that set a sassy tone for the collection. “All the women around me in the studio want the slits here,” he said, raising his hand to the upper thigh. “So, I’m listening to them.” For his second show at the house, Tron also listened more to himself, bringing in the sexy and body-conscious silhouettes that defined his work at Atlein. “The first season I was kind of a good boy,” he admitted, referring to the polite and reverential collection he presented in February. If he got his bad boy on for his sophomore turn, it definitely made for a more spirited expression. The kind Balmain needs to stand out in the sea of proposals that make up the Paris schedule.
On Tron’s backstage mood board were historical pictures of editors looking at some of the house’s sexier proposals with a mix of awe and scandal. He channelled that attitude into a fiercely sensual collection of depraved bourgeois silhouettes – tight skirts, blouses, bodices, little dresses, pilot jackets – animated with sensory textures and colours like jacquards, snakeskin, eel leather, lace, animal embroideries and tie dye. Occasionally, while graphically rich, the materials didn’t look as luxurious as they could have, but they didn’t lack for attitude. Tron called it psychedelic, referencing the book Foucault in California about the author’s LSD-laden and mind-expanding experiences in Death Valley in 1975. “It changed his perception and he called it the most important experience of his life.”
Balmain was born in 1945 at a moment of austerity, when the founder’s sensuality and opulence offered a way forward. While you can’t draw a direct parallel to that post-war zeitgeist and whatever it is we’re going through now, there is a contemporary appetite in fashion for being shocked and rattled, which few houses – with their commercial-minded outputs – are actually fulfilling. Tron did well to push those buttons, and there’s room for more bad-boy behaviour at the house. If Balmain isn’t going to do it, who is?
Brooks Nader on Baywatch, Hollywood and her next chapter Brooks Nader on Baywatch, Hollywood and her next chapter
Brooks Nader on Baywatch, Hollywood and her next chapter
An incroyable return: John Galliano re{form}s Zara An incroyable return: John Galliano re{form}s Zara
An incroyable return: John Galliano re{form}s Zara
A new Courrèges: Débutant Drew Henry finds joy in disruption A new Courrèges: Débutant Drew Henry finds joy in disruption
A new Courrèges: Débutant Drew Henry finds joy in disruption
The wonder years: Kate Moss and John Galliano on fashion and friendship in the 90s The wonder years: Kate Moss and John Galliano on fashion and friendship in the 90s
The wonder years: Kate Moss and John Galliano on fashion and friendship in the 90s
Heritage in disguise: Jonathan Anderson plays with perception at Dior Heritage in disguise: Jonathan Anderson plays with perception at Dior
Heritage in disguise: Jonathan Anderson plays with perception at Dior
Golden years: Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent glow-up Golden years: Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent glow-up
Golden years: Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent glow-up
Hard and soft: Glenn Martens keeps it simple at Maison Margiela Hard and soft: Glenn Martens keeps it simple at Maison Margiela
Hard and soft: Glenn Martens keeps it simple at Maison Margiela
A house in motion: Silvana Armani loosens the lines at Giorgio Armani A house in motion: Silvana Armani loosens the lines at Giorgio Armani
