The Inside Story of Balmain’s Transformation

Save this storySave StorySave this storyWhen the shutters opened just before the models walked Antonin Tron’s debut show for Balmain last season, the symbolism was hard to escape. Tron took the creative director chair to let the light of a new day in for the Parisian house.

But as it goes, Tron’s appointment was only one part of the story. Behind the scenes, CEO Matteo Sgarbossa had been leading a thorough transformation of the Mayhoola-owned company since he took on the role in May 2024. Two months later, he found a new CMO in Bruna Scognamiglio and appointed Tron in November 2025, a little after the departure of Olivier Rousteing, who had been at the helm for 14 years.

Together, they have been rethinking Balmain’s product, stores, pricing and communication strategies. Ahead of tonight’s show, we sat down with Matteo and Bruna to get the inside story of Balmain’s transformation strategy.

Vogue: You both recently celebrated your two-year anniversary at Balmain. What would you say have been your biggest moments so far?

Matteo: When I joined as CEO, it was the year of our 80th anniversary — I thought it was a sign. When you have a big anniversary, it makes sense to take a moment to tell the story of the brand, and I realized that the incredible story of Balmain had gone untold. In previous years, the brand had been very much associated with its designer, and it needed to stand on its own.

So, we began what has been two years of complete transformation at the maison, by putting two elements at the center of our strategy: the client and the brand. That, of course, led to a redesign of every department in the company to reflect this new direction, including the product. We were a brand very much perceived as just for evening and occasionwear. We wanted to expand the wardrobe so we could embrace a new audience and dress existing clients throughout the day.

I would say the most important achievement of the last two years has been the building of an entirely new platform for growth. This transformation is still ongoing, and it will last for, I hope, years. But the platform is now there, so we can scale up.

Bruna: When I arrived, the brand was so bold and visible on the outside, but in reality, there was no coherence to the story. That presented a big challenge but also an opportunity for the teams, because there was a lot to be done. We began this exercise of redrawing the brand and defining its values. And once we were clear on that, everything, including the creative transition to Antonin, has been easy.

Antonin Tron, in his office at Balmain HQ.

Vogue: What was behind the decision to hire Antonin Tron as creative director?

Matteo: Making the decision after 14 years to say goodbye to Olivier [Rousteing, now the creative director of Rabanne] was obviously one of the most difficult things I have done as CEO. Once that was done, there were many big personalities — very interested and very, I would even say, pushy — who wanted to take the creative helm. But to go with one of them would be repeating the same story, perhaps to the detriment of the brand.

Hence the decision to hire someone relatively unknown but with great potential. Someone really, really in love with the codes of Pierre Balmain, who could reinterpret them afresh. The work of Antonin is all around the body. It’s all about the movement. It’s about drapes, and it’s all work you can find in the Balmain archive. When he presented the work to me, it was very clear he was the perfect person to help me in this journey of reconnecting with the heritage while redefining the brand.

Pierre Balmain’s codes centred on the body — sculpted silhouettes, fluid draping and a strong sense of movement.

Vogue: It’s true that when Nicole Phelps interviewed Antonin ahead of his debut at Balmain, she saw a dress from the archive in the studio that she thought was from Antonin’s collection. In the same interview, Antonin also mentioned accessories as an opportunity, but he also said that he was new to the category. How are you guys developing your accessories?

Matteo: Almost 90% of our income used to come from ready-to-wear. So in our attempt to build out the entire wardrobe, leather goods are key. Ultimately, it’s the part of the business that can offer the most stability because it doesn’t change as much. It can also help reposition the brand, because it can signal a new direction.

At Antonin’s first show, we presented a bag called the Sphynx. It’s a classic hourglass shape that is so far working very well — we see the beginning of something.

The Sphynx bag presented at Tron’s first show.

Vogue: The consensus is that the second show of a creative director is the most significant, as they have had more time in the role. How are you both advising Antonin on his second show?

Matteo: To start with, the first show was a great achievement, especially considering how little time he had to prepare. When we started discussing the first show, I asked him for three things. First, I wanted a show that would create a strong dialogue with our heritage, because this was part of my strategy since I joined; I wanted to use such a high-visibility moment to communicate that once again.

I also wanted a show that would talk to the same clients that we have now. And, of course, that customer is very specific — she’s a strong woman, with a big personality, very confident, and sexual; what we call ‘an unapologetic troublemaker’. And I want this woman not to feel disappointed by the new direction. Finally, I wanted the show to present a very clear vision to our wholesale and retail partners. He did an excellent job, because the show ticked all the boxes.

Now, it’s time for him to be bolder. I am encouraging him to be brave and leverage what has been successful so far to express himself and the brand further. I want him to have more fun and less anxiety, knowing that the first show was well received.

Bruna: The key word for us is ‘deepening’. Everyone understood that the show represented a reset. Now, we need to deepen the story. And that’s where my role is really to challenge Antonin to translate his vision into a show. We have also worked hard in the last few months to create a community around him. There is a very solid team working to create and define the brand’s image.

Vogue: What can you tell me about the show we are about to see? Have you seen anything yet?

Matteo: I’m lucky because Antonin shares a lot with me — from his mood boards to prototypes. I also saw the collection of bags and shoes, just before flying to Milan for our new store opening. There was a truck full of them being delivered from one of our suppliers in Florence to Paris, with all the samples for the show. I was really impressed; bags and shoes will be protagonists in this next show.

Behind the scenes at Antonin Tron’s debut show.

In terms of ready-to-wear, I will see everything the Monday before the show. We have a two-hour full immersion where Antonin presents the full show collection to me. What I have seen so far is that he has further developed his vocabulary. There is still this principle that he loves to use: ‘minimal opulence’, but with a bit more sexiness, a bit more boldness. The first show was largely based on the codes of the house. This one I think will be more personal.

Vogue: You also just opened a store in Milan’s Via della Spiga. Are more store openings part of this transformation strategy?

Matteo: The ambition is to have retail representing 70% of our business. It’s another important part of the transformation journey for me, because there hasn’t been a proper retail culture at Balmain. It’s also my background; I was a retail director for years.

The risk with such a big transformation is that the customer will not understand it and will therefore be alienated. If there is one place where it’s easier to explain that narrative to them, it’s in our own spaces, in our own stores. I’m imagining the Balmain store as a place where you discover the history of the house, not just a place of transaction. We opened the store in Via della Spiga and held an event there yesterday. We made sure to include an amazing blend of the new collection by Antonin in the store, but also archival pieces from 1955, 1960, and so forth, to show how connected this new vision is to the heritage of the brand.

At the same time, we are reducing our dependency on wholesale. We have been closing a lot of distribution. When you are a small brand like us, you cannot be everywhere your clients are. We aren’t able to have a retail presence in Capri, Courchevel or St Barts. Wholesale is the channel that can help create those touchpoints for my clients in locations where we cannot have a store. But it has to be qualitative. It has to be wholesale that respects our brand positioning and our pricing.

Balmain’s store in Milan’s Via della Spiga.

Vogue: Pricing has been a sore point for the industry in the last few years. What can you tell me about your pricing strategy?

Matteo: Our goal from the beginning was to lower the entry price across all categories to give aspirational customers access to the brand. Aspirational clients stopped purchasing because of the exponential growth of luxury prices. So I said, let’s do things differently; let’s ensure that for each product category, our entry price is lower than our competitors. For example, the Sphynx — which is a bag of incredible leather quality, made in Italy with a distinctive silhouette — the entry price of the mini is below €1,000. The entry price of our sneaker is €299, and the same goes across T-shirts.

Of course, the style and the design cannot be compromised. You cannot have a white T-shirt with a giant Balmain logo anymore; that’s over. This was our past; it is not our future. So far, based on what we are hearing from the stores, the strategy is working.

Vogue: Bruna, what’s the best way to communicate the less exciting parts of a strategy change like prices?

Bruna: When I started this job, the marketing strategy was based on those elevated aspirational pieces. We were getting a lot of magazine covers with these beautiful pieces that were never sold. So we moved away from those maximum visibility moments like red carpets and covers to sustain more day-to-day conversations with the brand. For instance, there are beautiful product roundups in every magazine. If they are talking about bags, I want to be there.

There are also new tools and channels we need to be engaging with. The way I position a bag like the Sphynx or the sneaker is different from what I do for a very elevated piece. We have a wardrobe now, and as a consequence, our campaign and the content we create on our social media platforms and in our communication touchpoints need to synergize. Matteo, Antonin and I are all very much on the same page with this.

Vogue: Is the Balmain army still a thing?

Bruna: Yes, it’s still a thing. It’s one of our greatest assets. Where previously, perhaps, it was more about a group of people who featured in our campaigns, the focus has slightly changed toward people who share the values of the brand. It’s our responsibility to preserve this very important element of connection with the women that represent our community.

Matteo: We have an incredible database of loyal customers, and the first brief I assigned Antonin was to keep pleasing them. But of course that community is constantly evolving, so we need to also evolve.

“My Community Made It Happen”: Inside Mexican Brand Neithan Herbert’s Milan Debut

‘Rather Marvelous and Refreshing’: First Reactions to Christopher Kane’s Mulberry

Behind the Scenes: Henry Zankov Means Business