How Pierpaolo Piccioli is rewriting the codes of Balenciaga.
After redefining Valentino for a generation, the Italian fashion designer
arrives carrying the weight of couture’s most formidable legacy.
Pierpaolo Piccioli’s return to fashion in October, at the helm of Balenciaga, was more than just industry news – the move felt almost cosmically inevitable. After departing from Valentino following a transformative 25-year tenure, Piccioli resurfaced at the storied Spanish maison that has long been defined by radical form, intellectual curiosity and couture-level experimentation. For a designer such as Piccioli, celebrated for romanticism, painterly colour and sculptural elegance, Balenciaga represented a fascinating, almost preordained evolution.
His spring/summer 2026 debut, unveiled inside the house’s imposing Paris headquarters, proved to be a telling moment. Rather than erasing the codes of Balenciaga’s past – a familiar move for newly installed creative directors eager to establish authorship – Piccioli approached the archive with near reverence. The opening look, a black sack dress paired with oversized insect-like sunglasses, nodded simultaneously to Cristobal Balenciaga’s revolutionary 1957 Chemise dress and to the futuristic visual language of Demna, Piccioli’s predecessor and the architect of Balenciaga’s recent cultural dominance, before his move to Gucci.
Elsewhere, traces of Demna’s streetwear vocabulary lingered in elongated shorts, severe crop tops, fitted pencil skirts and voluminous bomber jackets, now softened under Piccioli’s unmistakably poetic hand through shimmering fringing and fabric flowers. Construction remained central. Piccioli carved leather into a dramatic wide-collared jacket with sleeves puddling around the elbow; a deeply folded midi skirt that swayed heavily with each step; and a sculptural cape cut from a single hide. Another leather look, also fashioned from one uninterrupted piece of skin, took the form of a backless apron, underscoring his technical mastery.
Cristobal’s signature Watteau backs reappeared in dresses and jackets, while echoes of the house’s 1960s bridal couture resurfaced in black-and-white leather. There were nods, too, to Nicolas Ghesquière’s era at the house, through cocoon coats and tall riding hats tied scarf-like beneath the chin, while the 2001 Le City bag returned in both oversized and miniature proportions. Piccioli’s gift for tailoring emerged by Look Three: a sack dress cut to the hip and paired with impeccably tailored trousers. By Look Six, shocking pink opera gloves introduced the vivid colour synonymous with his Valentino years. The finale, a dusty grey-rose strapless gown gathered delicately at the neckline, with a dropped waist and hem, carried the effortless romance that has become his signature.
For autumn/winter 2026, Piccioli deepened the conversation, opening with nine looks in black. Embracing a darker mood while continuing Balenciaga’s exploration of proportion, he presented the collection as co-ed, much like Demna before him. Menswear featured elongated double-breasted overcoats with collars stretched into hoods, alongside jumpers and tops with asymmetrical hems and distorted tailoring that felt elegantly subversive.
