\u201cFor me, the men\u2019s and the women\u2019s, they are kind of like one entity. I really want the men and women to be able to talk to each other.\u201d Antonin Tron was riffing as we riffled the rails of his first pre-spring collections for Balmain, including this first-ever menswear collection for the house. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily think of them as a couple,\u201d he qualified: \u201cbut I think at Balmain the women are quite sexy and out there. And if I was to do something very different for men, it would be weird.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking at his rails simultaneously, that relationship was manifest in substance as well as spirit: \u201cWe have a lot of overcrossing material,\u201d Tron confirmed. Yet there was one fundamental difference in his approach to the two wardrobes: while his Balmain woman is an imagined character, his man is more internalized. \u201cI\u2019m also making things that I can\u2019t find myself,\u201d he said. The tailoring block, for instance, arose from his frustration with suits that were either too narrow or too oversized. Here the shoulders were strong, the waist defined and the fit flattering without constriction: very much surfer\u2019s suiting. \u201cClothes have to help you, no?\u201d<\/p>\n
This approach was also apparent in a bodacious pair of heavy cotton canvas trousers,<\/p>\n