Martyn Bal is a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

fashion designer. He has worked with

Hedi Slimane Hedi Slimane (; born July 5, 1968) is a French photographer and couturier. From 2000 to 2007, he was the creative director for Dior Homme (the menswear line of Christian Dior). From 2012 to 2016, he was the creative director for Yves Saint La ...

Dior Homme Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA, the French clothing retailer. Dior Homme named Jonathan Anderson as creative director on April 17, 2025 following his exit from Loewe. History During the 1980s and 1990s Dior's men ...

Donatella Versace Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955), sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion com ...

, Christopher Bailey at

Burberry Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...

and

Roberto Cavalli Roberto Cavalli (; 15 November 1940 – 12 April 2024) was an Italian fashion designer and inventor. He was known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. The Roberto Cavalli fashion house sells luxury clothing, perf ...

, and collaborated among many others, with

Moncler Moncler S.p.A. is an Italian luxury fashion brand specialized in ready-to-wear outerwear headquartered in Milan, Italy. Its core branding includes the Rooster#Terminology, cockerel, "M" monogram, felt appliqué badge, crossed skis and cartoon duc ...

Edward Enninful Edward Kobina Enninful (born 22 February 1972) is a Ghanaian-born British editor and stylist who was editor-in-chief of British Vogue, British ''Vogue'' and European editorial director of Condé Nast. He was appointed fashion director of the ...

Cutler and Gross Cutler and Gross is a British luxury eyewear brand, founded in London by opticians Graham Cutler and Tony Gross in 1969. The frames are handmade in the brand's atelier in Italy, and have been worn by the likes of Madonna, Javier Bardem, Bill ...

and

Marc Quinn Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...

Early life and education

Martyn Bal was born in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Before discovering fashion, Bal briefly studied architecture. Bal was a teen apprentice to

Dirk Bikkembergs Dirk Bikkembergs (born 2 January 1959) is a Belgian fashion designer. Early life Dirk Bikkembergs was born in Cologne, Germany, as his father was in the Belgian Army. He lived most of his years in Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium. In 1982, Bikkem ...

( Antwerp six). Not having had any formal design education, Bal went on to study

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

at the

Royal College Of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in London. Bal graduated in 2000 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in menswear.

Career

After graduation in 2000, Bal was immediately hired to assist

. He went on to direct the men's design studio at

, working closely with Christopher Bailey, and design collections for

Maison Martin Margiela Maison Margiela, formerly ''Maison Martin Margiela'', is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens in 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal co ...

. In 2009 Bal launched his own line of menswear, featuring

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

model and actor

Andreja Pejić Andreja Pejić ( , ; born Andrej Pejić; 28 August 1991) is an Australian actress and former model. Since coming out as a trans woman in 2013, she has become one of the most recognisable transgender models in the world. Early life Pejić was bo ...

and then rising Swedish popstar

Erik Hassle Kaj Erik Persson Hassle (born 26 August 1988) is a Swedish pop singer and songwriter. His career started in 2008 with his first single, " Hurtful", which eventually reached No. 11 in Sweden and peaked at No. 2 in Denmark. His most successful sin ...

. During this period Bal also developed an exclusive handcrafted eyewear range named 'Wowzers' with

. From 2010 Bal was in charge of the men's design studio at

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

, reporting directly to

. Here he collaborated with

(currently of

British Vogue ''British Vogue'' (stylised in all caps) is the British edition of the American Fashion journalism, fashion magazine Vogue (magazine), Vogue. The magazine was launched in 1916 by Condé Nast, linking together fashion and high society.König A ...

) and Joe McKenna on the styling of the menswear shows. From February 2013 Martyn Bal was appointed Men's Style and Design Director at

. Martyn Bal was reporting directly to

and was in charge of all menswear style and design, including accessories and

licensees A licensee can mean the holder of a license or, in U.S. tort law, is a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to en ...

. After successfully repositioning the menswear brand, Bal left his position at Roberto Cavalli in June 2015, after Italian private equity firm Clessidra acquired a 90% stake of the Roberto Cavalli group. Since then Martyn Bal has continues to work on projects as a senior style and design consultant and most recently collaborated with

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

based denim and leather brand BLK DNM, originally founded by

Johan Lindeberg Johan Lindeberg is a Swedish fashion designer. Career *He was the Marketing Director of Diesel from 1990 until 1996. *He was the CEO of Diesel US from 1994 to 1996. *In 1995, Johan Lindeberg decided to quit his position at Diesel in order to ...

. Here Bal worked on launching an all

made in Italy Made in Italy is a merchandise mark indicating that a product is all planned, manufactured and packed in Italy, especially concerning the Italian design, design, Italian fashion, fashion, Italian cuisine, food, manufacturing, craftsmanship, and ...

premium denim and outerwear capsule for the brand. He also collaborated with renowned contemporary artist

Style , Celebrity

Bal's collection are known for its romanticism and its slick precision, tinged with duality and bold attitude. His designs have been featured on magazine covers and worn by celebrities including

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, Joe Perry,

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie (formerly Tinie Tempah), is a British rapper and singer. He has been signed to Parlophone since 2009, now a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his ...

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, Lu Yi,

Rupert Penry-Jones Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is an English actor from London. He is known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr. Quinlan in the America ...

Fabio Novembre Fabio Novembre (21 October 1966) is an Italian architect and designer. Biography He moved to Milan in 1984, where in 1992 he received a degree in architecture. In 1993 he lived in New York City where he attended a filmmaking course at the New Y ...

, among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bal, Martyn Living people Dutch fashion designers Alumni of the Royal College of Art Dutch tailors 21st-century tailors People from Schiedam Year of birth missing (living people)