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Balenciaga has appointed Martine Rose as its creative director following Pierpaolo Piccioli’s exit, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Rose is due to start November 16; the house has not yet detailed her first collection or the full scope of her role.
Balenciaga has appointed Martine Rose as its new creative director following Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departure, Harper’s Bazaar reported. Rose, a British designer known for her menswear and subculture-influenced work, is due to begin November 16; the house has not yet provided details about her first collection or initial plans.
The appointment returns Rose to a house where she previously worked. After Demna became Balenciaga’s creative director in 2015, he brought Rose on as a menswear consultant. She worked there for three years, contributing to the development of the men’s aesthetic, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Demna left for Gucci in 2025, the report says, and Rose was rumored to be a contender when his position became available.
Rose established her namesake label in 2007 after earlier fashion projects, including a small T-shirt line called LMNOP. Her designs often reshape familiar clothing through altered proportions, unconventional materials and menswear references. She has also collaborated with Nike, Supreme and Clarks, and the source identifies Timothée Chalamet, Rihanna and Hailey Bieber among people who wear her work.
Harper’s Bazaar reported that Rose begins on November 16, but did not specify the year in its account. The report places her appointment after Piccioli’s exit, around 16 months after he took the role in 2025. No official statement from Balenciaga was included in the supplied source material, so details beyond the appointment and reported start date remain limited.
A Return to Balenciaga’s Menswear
Rose’s appointment brings a designer with firsthand experience inside Balenciaga back to the house, while placing her in charge after a short period under Piccioli. Her earlier work with Demna gives her familiarity with the brand’s recent menswear direction, but it does not establish what she will choose to retain or change.
The role also puts Rose’s independent design practice at the helm of a major luxury label. Her work has drawn on clubwear and subcultural dress, while Balenciaga’s history is strongly associated with sculptural silhouettes and construction. How those strands will meet could shape the house’s next chapter, though any prediction about the result remains interpretation until Rose presents work in the role.
The appointment is also notable in an industry where top creative positions have often gone to familiar names. Harper’s Bazaar frames Rose’s hiring as a departure from that pattern. That characterization is the publication’s analysis; the confirmed development is that Balenciaga has selected Rose after Piccioli’s departure.
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Rose’s Earlier Balenciaga Role
Rose was born in South London in 1980 to a British Jamaican family and studied fashion design at Middlesex University, according to Harper’s Bazaar. The report describes her early influences as connected to the clothing and club cultures around her in the 1990s. She began showing through Fashion East, a fashion incubator program, in the early 2010s, building a following for collections that reworked everyday and subcultural dress.
Balenciaga was founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga in 1917 in San Sebastián and reestablished in Paris in 1937, the source reports. Its legacy is associated with shape, volume and silhouette. Demna’s tenure brought a highly recognizable, streetwear-influenced direction; Rose worked with him during its early years. In 2025, Balenciaga appointed Piccioli to lead the house, asking him to interpret its legacy while addressing the audience that had grown around Demna’s work, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
Piccioli’s departure came around 16 months after that appointment, as reported by the publication. The source does not provide further details about the circumstances of his exit. Rose’s move is therefore a leadership change at a house balancing its historical identity with more recent creative directions.
First Collection Details Awaited
The available report does not include a statement from Balenciaga or Rose, nor does it explain the circumstances of Piccioli’s departure. It also does not identify the year attached to Rose’s November 16 start date. Readers should treat that date as reported, while recognizing that the source’s timing is incomplete.
Balenciaga has not, in the supplied material, announced when Rose’s first collection will be shown, which categories she will oversee, or what the transition means for the house’s existing teams. The report’s suggestion that her appointment signals a return to Demna’s edgier direction is an interpretation, not a confirmed description of Rose’s plans. Those questions remain open until the company or designer provides more information.
The First Collection to Watch
The next confirmed milestone in the report is Rose’s expected start on November 16. Balenciaga’s public announcements and its fashion-show calendar should clarify when her first designs for the house will reach audiences. No debut date or collection schedule was supplied in the source material.
Until then, the appointment establishes who will lead Balenciaga creatively, but not what the new direction will look like. Further information from the house could address Rose’s remit, the timing of her first collection and how the change will affect the brand’s womenswear and menswear.
Key Questions
Who is Balenciaga’s new creative director?
Martine Rose has been appointed creative director, according to Harper’s Bazaar. She is a British designer known for her namesake label and menswear work.
When does Martine Rose begin at Balenciaga?
The report says Rose begins on November 16, but does not specify the year in its account.
Who did Rose replace?
Rose’s appointment followed Pierpaolo Piccioli’s departure. Harper’s Bazaar reported that Piccioli had held the role for around 16 months after his 2025 appointment.
Has Balenciaga announced Rose’s first collection?
No first-collection date or details were included in the source material. The timing and contents of her debut remain unclear.
Has Martine Rose worked at Balenciaga before?
Yes. Rose worked as a menswear consultant after Demna became creative director in 2015. Harper’s Bazaar says she spent three years at the house.
Source: harpersbazaar.com
