One day after Pierpaolo Piccioli's exit, Kering has named the London designer behind a label built on subculture and music. She starts in Paris on November 16.
Fashion usually gives us a decent pause between a farewell and a successor. This time we got about a day. Kering has named Martine Rose as the new Creative Director of Balenciaga, the morning after announcing that Pierpaolo Piccioli was leaving the house. Rose takes up the role in Paris on November 16, 2026.
So the Martine Rose Balenciaga era is officially on the calendar, and if the name makes you grin, you probably already know her work. If it doesn’t yet, here’s the short version.
The designer from London’s underground
Rose launched her eponymous label in 2007. In the years since, she has built what Kering describes as a distinctive creative language rooted in subculture, music, identity and the social codes of dress. Her menswear picks at familiar things (the everyday garment, the recognisable type of person) and reworks them until they feel new. Kering says she is known for challenging established conventions of fashion and masculinity.
London is her home ground, and her work reflects the city’s mix of communities, generations and subcultures. The press release puts her in a “singular position” between underground culture and the international fashion establishment. That’s a tidy way of saying she has a foot in the room where things are cool and a foot in the room where things are bought.
Her shows have become part of the message. Kering points to the spaces she chooses, the way she casts her runways and an inclusive view of beauty as extensions of her philosophy. Anyone who has watched a Martine Rose show knows the casting is half the story.
She also has a second career of sorts. Beyond her own collections, Rose is described as one of the industry’s most influential creative collaborators and consultants, with a client list of some of the world’s most recognised artists and brands.
Why Balenciaga, and why now
Kering CEO Luca de Meo called Balenciaga “a House of radical creativity” and said Rose “embodies this spirit with a fresh, fearless and deeply contemporary vision.” He also pointed to her connection to the new generation and her “instinctive understanding of culture,” which he said bring “a new dimension to the House.”
Gianfranco Gianangeli, President and CEO of Balenciaga, zeroed in on the craft side. He cited her ability to challenge conventions, “reinvent silhouettes” and bring “an unexpected perspective to fashion.” That matches how Kering describes her design instincts: proportion, silhouette and fabrication, with a considered look at gender, character and identity.
Silhouette is also the house’s founding obsession. Cristóbal Balenciaga started the label in San Sebastián in 1917 and set it up in Paris in 1937, and Kering credits the house with revolutionising couture through innovations in form and technique. A designer who thinks in proportion and shape has an obvious way into that archive.
Kering also says Rose “brings a deep understanding of the House’s creative identity to her own singular vision of contemporary culture.” In other words, the plan is not to copy-paste what came before.
What to watch for
Rose has already told us how she’s approaching the job. “It is a true privilege to be appointed Creative Director of Balenciaga, a House with an extraordinary heritage and a fearless creative spirit,” she said. She added that the house “has been shaped by remarkable creative talents before me,” and that she is committed to honoring that legacy while “creating the next chapter in this rich and beautiful story.”
Her first collection hasn’t been unveiled. The clues are in her résumé. Expect strong thinking about silhouette and proportion, and a casting sheet that reflects real-world variety. Expect shows staged in places chosen to say something. Balenciaga has long worked with the avant-garde, and Rose brings her own version of it, one that grew out of London’s clubs and communities (the Kering release calls it subculture, music and the codes of dress).
For Kering, whose houses include Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen, the pick signals a bet on culture as much as clothes. The group’s own words are “the forefront of innovation, creativity and culture.” For fans, it’s simpler. A designer who has spent nearly twenty years making clothes that people actually want to talk about is about to get one of Paris’s most storied names to play with.
Mark November 16. The next chapter has a start date.
Via Kering
