After taking a year-long time out, the house of Balmain will take another stab at producing an haute couture collection. The house will return to the runway in July under the creative direction of 40-year-old Christophe Lebourg, who joined Balmain six months ago. In the past five years, the turbulent house has had a string of unlucky ready to wear designers that include Laurent Mercier, Gilles Dufour and Andrew Gn. The couture division was previously successfully designed by Oscar De La Renta for many years.