Olivier Rousteing continues to steer Balmain with a blend of seasoned experience and fresh perspective and the Resort 2026 collection reflects a belief in continuous evolution, while maintaining the brand’s core identity.

“The real question is always what do you want to propose? And while my answer changes through the seasons, it also always relates to going back to the past and bringing it to the present in order to build the future,” said Rousteing. “This is why I am always having this conversation with the original work of Pierre Balmain, and looking to express that dialogue in new ways.”

The collection was focused on bouclé pieces in pastel checks, black, and some racier color-combos kept aside in the showroom reflected the fact that around over 20% of Balmain’s ready-to-wear pieces are in tweed. A seasonal floral reworked from a Pierre Balmain original was present in some of the multiple new fabrications of a growing core line of Balmain handbags; the Anthem , the Sync , the Ébène, and the tightly-waisted Shuffle.

Knit bandage dresses and a split skirt floral aside, there was a notable step away from bodycon towards a focus on innovatively detailed oversized tailoring in wools including prince of wales check that often came cropped and placed in silhouette-skewing adjacency to matching microskirts and shorts. A coat so roomy you could put it on Airbnb came patterned with a felted Monet-esque print that reflected Pierre Balmain’s artistic passions, Rousteing reported. His column-pediment wedge boots were delivered this season in a shearling fabrication as well as leathers and worn against lingerie dresses. Cocoon-like capes in peach or lemon cashmere were standout wardrobe pieces.