6 November 2026 |
Martine Rose is headed to Balenciaga. The beloved London designer has been named the next creative director of the Parisian house, succeeding Pierpaolo Piccioli, who has led the maison since May 2025. Effective November 16, it’s not yet confirmed when Rose’s first collection will be.
The role marks the first time Rose will lead a major European house, but not her first time entering the Balenciaga maison. In 2015, Balenciaga’s new head honcho, Demna – then of Vetements fame – appointed Rose as a consultant for his menswear line at the storied house, a position she would hold for three years. Rose’s clever approach to silhouette – swelling proportions to XL proportions or suctioning them to the body – as well as her excellent graphic sensibility, helped define not only Demna’s Balenciaga aesthetic, but the overarching menswear mood of the last decade.
Founding her namesake label in 2007 – originally as a men’s shirting brand – in the last 20 years, Rose has become one of the most important and sought-after names in Brit fashion. She has let her design hand be led by what she sees on the streets. A born-and-bred Londoner from a Jamaican family, it’s through her collections that acid house ravers and junglists have danced alongside hikers and Camden punks. There have been footy lovers, too (Rose designed England’s official supporters’ jersey for the 2020 Euros), as well as Caribbean rudeboys and plenty of homoerotic flourishes thrown into the mix.
“Fashion is fun; you should always continue to push the envelope,” Rose told us in 2022. She has long treated her namesake label as a love letter to London, basing her collections on the weird and wonderful characters who give the city its quirks. She has invited the fashion pack to immerse themselves in her world: whether that’s staging shows in Seven Sisters Market, North London cul-de-sacs and even her own daughter’s primary school in Kentish Town. As her label has grown over the years, Rose has remained fiercely community focused and is regarded as one of the warmest designers working in the industry.
The designer’s high-profile collaborations with Nike, Supreme, Stüssy, Clarks, Napapijri and Tommy Hilfiger have helped propel Rose to international status, alongside celebrity co-signs from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna, who’ve religiously worn the designer on stage and in everyday life.
“Balenciaga has always been a house of radical creativity, challenging conventions and redefining the boundaries of fashion. Martine Rose embodies this spirit with a fresh, fearless and deeply contemporary vision,” Luca De Meo, Kering’s chief executive. said in a statement.
At Balenciaga, she will now be in charge of overseeing womenswear, menswear and accessories, marking an exciting, new era for the house. Let Rose’s reign begin.
Top Image Courtesy of Andreas Larsson.
