With the appointment of Martine Rose at Balenciaga, Kering gave the clearest indication yet of the direction it plans to take regarding the creative direction of its brands.

LONDON — With the appointment of Martine Rose at Balenciaga, Kering gave the clearest indication yet of the direction it plans to take regarding the creative direction at its brands.

It appears Kering‘s focus is on appealing to a younger generation, and on tapping seasoned female creative directors in a sphere long dominated by men.

These women, some of whom have already worked in the brands’ design studios, will be tasked with serving up collections that are commercial but still “avant-garde,” using Kering chief executive officer Luca de Meo‘s phrase of the month.

Why else would Kering have picked Rose, who worked alongside Demna on Balenciaga menswear in the early phase of his long tenure at the house?

She is widely regarded as having been a major influence on the brand’s oversize, distressed and vintage-flecked men’s silhouettes.

Her laid-back, urban cool and the streetwise, gender-fluid looks she created for her eponymous brand, which she has now paused following her new appointment, have won Rose high-profile fans, including Drake, Naomi Campbell, DJ Goldie, Kendrick Lamar and Timothée Chalamet. In 2025, Chalamet famously rolled up to the London premiere of “A Complete Unknown” on a Lime bike, dressed head-to-toe in Rose’s designs.

He wore a slim suit based on Rose’s “Bowie” silhouette, while his silky shirt, in blue, black and green nodded to the one Bob Dylan wore on a visit to London in 1965 with American folk musician Joan Baez.

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