A 41-year-old designer, trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp (yes, another one who studied in Belgium it’s basically a national sport by now). Then he honed his skills under Raf “Simonster,” a true reference! Let’s hope he didn’t learn too much. After that, he sailed on the lord’s ship, and finally landed at “Gi vent chie,” alongside Riccardo Tisci, “the great user of motivation in powder form.” In France, we love funding talent with generous subsidies especially foreign ones. The French, meanwhile, emigrate abroad to go slumming it in Antwerp’s nightclubs. It’s our version of the start-up nation, but with a draped annus horribilis.

After a stint at Balenciaga between 2012 and 2016 otherwise known as the era when sneakers became museum pieces Antonin launched his own label, Atlein. A name inspired by the Atlantic Ocean and the draping of Madame Grès, because the man likes to ride the wave; some designers do yoga, others meditate in Bali. As for him, he drapes the way he surfs with grace, precision, and a little sand between his toes. His first name, “Antonius,” whose etymology suggests some kind of alliance with the dolphin, makes sense “in short, the guy can swim.”

Only a finalist for the LVMH Prize in 2017, but winner of the “A tooth” (“Rhinestone Crown for a Throne of Trends”), Antonin proved he could turn fashion into an aquatic discipline—always fluid, never static a sort of Jacques mu-muse of the rich.

And now here he is at Balmain, succeeding Olivier Rousteing, the undisputed master of couture selfies and XXL shoulder-pad blazers. Antonin Tron “the name alone makes me laugh!” It’s a blast, but he promises to “preserve and enrich the House’s heritage.” In other words, not to break everything right away, before adding his own touch surely a mix of sculpture and Belgian rigor, bottled like a perfume rejected by the Manneken Pis.

His first show, scheduled in Paris for March, will be watched like the weather with a little apprehension, a lot of hope, and the secret desire to see a truly beautiful wave. But don’t tell anyone because at Balmain’s last show, I said Rousteing hadn’t actually done it. Now we know who did…

FM