Balmain’s Pre-Fall 2025 men’s and women’s lineup moves beyond the clichés of Paris and retools them with an attitude that feels right-now. This season, the house’s creative team—still riding the energy of recent expansions, including the debut of Balmain Beauty earlier this year—taps into the city’s prized tension: the interplay of deep-rooted elegance and unapologetic, lived-in confidence. In this new collection, you can almost imagine the after-dark hum of the Left Bank and that flash of swagger on the Champs-Élysées, all blurred into something both storied and startlingly current.
Paris’s built environment has always signaled a certain grandiosity—neoclassical silhouettes, sweeping boulevards, an imperial past. But the real trick here is that Balmain works through that legacy without letting it weigh down the clothes. Instead, the collection channels a kind of street-level audacity that matches the mindset of the “Titi Parisian,” that famed figure of French lore who approaches refinement with a grin and a shrug. It’s not about preserving museum pieces; it’s about flipping the codes. We see hints of aristocratic uniforms, plays on officer’s coats and lace flourishes, but they’re filtered through a sharp, city-bred lens. Newsboy caps nod to a timeless archetype, while next-gen varsity jackets, lacings reminiscent of old-world chandeliers, and biker-inspired footwear conjure a modern élan that sidesteps the expected.
There’s a certain heat running through the accessories too. Balmain’s expanded Anthem lineup doubles down on the house’s codes—a belted outline, oversized golden buckles—and tethers them to the here and now, while the Anthem footwear riffs on athletic staples with a subtle wink. The Sync series of bags and shoes, with their 2-chain accents and padlock details, nod back to Pierre Balmain’s mid-century flair while still feeling plugged into today’s fast-moving fashion beat. Even the brand’s legacy leopard references, drawn from the founder’s storied past, are shown here not as dusty relics but as something assertive and city-worthy.
