Olivier Rousteing draws on Pierre Balmain’s archive for the 80th anniversary of the house

The Pre-Spring 2026 collection encapsulates a continuity that anchors Balmain’s longevity and its ability to capture the spirit of the present while anticipating the future.

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In the year in which the Maison celebrates its 80th anniversary, Olivier Rousteing once again demonstrates why his vision continues to set the pulse of contemporary fashion. Sculpted silhouettes are subtly diluted in more ethereal textures and cuts that suggest movement. This season, the aim is to offer a new form of female empowerment: less rigid, more fluid, less imposed and more desired.

This duality between strength and freedom is evident in pieces that fuse architectural tailoring with strategic transparencies, dynamic draping and a colour palette that oscillates between elegant neutrals and brighter accents that dialogue with the light. The collection is designed for the woman who ‘changes shape but never changes essence’.

In terms of accessories, the bags have been transformed into reinterpreted historical capsules: the Sync incorporates the iconic maxi chains of the 1940s, while the Suffle pays homage to the hourglass silhouettes that dominated the 1950s. But the real eye-catcher is the Ébène, a piece that exudes exoticism and character, evoking Monsieur Balmain‘s travels to Africa and his legendary fragrance of the same name from the 1980s.