A sublime Pierpaolo Piccioli makes Balenciaga 'chic' again
Madrid – Just over 15 minutes. That was the duration of the presentation for Balenciaga's new collection. It was all the time Pierpaolo Piccioli needed to usher in a new chapter as the new creative director of the emblematic French fashion house of Spanish origin. This new era is marked by a return to the 'chic' refinement that made the master of Getaria_ his name and his house_ one of the greatest exponents of French Haute Couture.
A major highlight of the latest edition of Paris Fashion Week_ Pierpaolo Piccioli made his debut as the new creative director of Balenciaga—one of the main fashion houses of the Kering group—this past Saturday_ October 4. The Roman designer closed the sixth day of official presentations and shows of this new edition of Paris Fashion Week_ presenting his first collection for the historic house for the spring/summer 2026 season. It was a collection with which the designer has once again demonstrated his great mastery and talent_ perhaps more so than ever. He is debuting in a role for which he seems to have been preparing throughout his extensive and established professional career.
During his long years at the creative helm of Valentino_ from 2008 to 2016 alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri and from 2016 to March 2024 alone_ Pierpaolo Piccioli clearly showed the prominent place Cristóbal Balenciaga's work holds in his imagination. A perfect example is the Haute Couture collection for the autumn/winter 2023/2024 season. It featured clear and direct references to the work of the Spanish master of Haute Couture_ such as Piccioli's reinterpretations of his balloon_ rose_ or 'robe queue de paon' (peacock tail) dresses. These reinterpretations of the Spaniard's work are as magnificent as they are constant throughout Piccioli's career. However_ one cannot deny the often excessively literal references to Balenciaga's creations. This added to the interest surrounding the Roman designer's appointment as the new creative director of Balenciaga. The change raised questions about the extent to which the house was closing the vibrant and disruptive chapter under Demna's leadership. It also questioned how far Piccioli could push his ingenuity to move away from the literalness he has sometimes been guilty of_ and create a truly new_ attractive and evocative aesthetic universe for the brand.
This debut collection from the Italian for Balenciaga served as an answer to these two questions. It is fitting to use that term_ as that is precisely what we witnessed at the Paris show this past Saturday_ October 4. It was a historic day for the house_ during which Piccioli laid the foundations for a new era for Balenciaga. The Italian approaches this new period not with the task of paying homage to its founder_ and certainly not to Demna_ but of carrying out a “recalibration” of its entire legacy_ from its origins to its most recent present. The Roman designer embraces this extensive history to build a new chapter from the house's heritage. This chapter begins marked_ firstly_ by the working methodology that characterised Cristóbal Balenciaga as a couturier_ which becomes the true cornerstone on which Piccioli will build this new era for the house. Secondly_ it is marked by the recontextualisation and deconstruction of the Spanish couturier's work_ based on Pierpaolo's own aesthetic sensibilities. From these two impulses_ the Roman has begun to readjust the house's identity. He preserves a fiercely contemporary outlook on fashion tastes_ a legacy from Demna—and also from Balenciaga himself_ who was modern and daring in his glory days. He also reclaims the “chic” aesthetic that led Cristóbal Balenciaga to be crowned the great master of Haute Couture.
“Balenciaga is defined as a methodology”; as “creation understood as ideology_ as identity_ as an expression of humanity and invention_” the fashion house's management explained in a note. Taking this synthesis of the house's history as the cornerstone for this new era_ “Pierpaolo Piccioli's debut collection as creative director of Balenciaga celebrates this essential component of the _maison_ and of the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga_ bringing it into the present.” “Not as a homage_ but as a recalibration_” emphasised the French fashion house of Spanish origin.
“We exist in feeling_ in recognition_ in the memory of what we have been and in the imagination of what we will be_” noted Pierpaolo himself_ in a rather poetic manner_ regarding his debut as creative director of Balenciaga. “What brought me here has been a journey full of emotions_ which pushed me forward with force_” and which “not only taught me_ but also revealed parts of myself I barely knew.” To shape this collection_ he added_ “I embraced the unpredictable_ the endless days and working from the heart.” “Every heartbeat carries a name_ a moment_ a gesture_” and “this collection is born from that place of love and connection. It is as much mine as it is of everyone who experienced it with me_ in every sense. Perhaps with a different pulse_ but always with the same soul.” “This collection exists because we knew how to recognise_ see and welcome each other_” he added_ referring to the good synchronicity he had established with everyone in the Balenciaga atelier.
Reclaiming Cristóbal Balenciaga's 'chic' and modern heritage
Presented under the title 'The Heartbeat'_ this Balenciaga collection for the spring/summer 2026 season is the main focus. The first thing to note is how_ honouring its name_ the collection beats to the rhythm of the house's and its founder's heart. Cristóbal Balenciaga's presence is felt behind every silhouette_ every cut and every thread on which this collection is based. His presence is felt like a fine veil that permeates everything_ rather than a tangible materialisation of his work. The production is presented in a much more veiled than literal way_ through a succession of garments for which Piccioli entrenches himself in the reclamation of Balenciaga's historical methodology_ defining them by their fabrics and patterns.
Moving beyond these generalities_ the collection reclaims jet black as Balenciaga's signature colour. It is fused and presented on this occasion as the anchor of a chromatic symphony completed with soft pale pinks and mint greens; deep chocolate browns; intense lilacs; forest greens and carmine reds; and elegant chartreuse yellows. With these colour tones_ the Roman designer seems to recover the colour palette influenced by the great Spanish masters of painting_ especially the work of Francisco de Zurbarán_ which marked Balenciaga's work. Off-white is also a key colour in this collection. This presence seems to be a nod to the bridal production that also marked the history of the house. This is particularly evident in the off-white ensemble with a voluminous hemmed skirt_ presented as a daring and attractive reinterpretation of the wedding dress Balenciaga designed for Queen Fabiola of Belgium.
Leaving the colour spectrum aside_ in terms of cuts_ patterns and silhouettes_ one can only applaud the sublime work carried out by Piccioli in revisiting_ reconstructing and recontextualising Balenciaga's work. This production is magnificently reconfigured within this collection_ with the Roman designer's new versions of Balenciaga's historic trapeze_ sack_ balloon and 'peacock tail' dresses. He does not hesitate to subvert these patterns_ giving way to new sack dresses that take on the identity of chemises; balloon dresses that take the form of leather jackets enveloping the body like shells; new updated and minimalist versions of the house's historic 'baby doll' dress; or 'peacock tail' dresses that are shortened to form new and attractive crop tops_ or take on the identity of elegant poncho-tunics. It is also impossible not to highlight the cocktail dresses_ as well as the evening gowns that closed the show_ with which Piccioli made this return to Balenciaga's 'chic' more than evident. The same goes for the accessories_ such as the wasp-eye glasses or the white pillbox-style hats_ with which the Italian seems to make a direct nod to the style worn by Audrey Hepburn during the 1960s.
“In his creative practice_ Balenciaga placed the human being at the centre_” noted the fashion house. “The aesthetic austerity—even severity—concealed a physical lightness_” with “garments conceived for a body in motion” in which_ “between body and fabric_” “an essential exchange_ a dynamic relationship” was fostered. Taking this heritage as its own_ and following “in this line_ the garments here explore the space between fabric and form_” presenting “air as a third dimension”; as “a vital element of their construction.” The result is a collection in which “fragments of the past are reinterpreted with an eye to the future”; a proposal in which “memories of Cristóbal Balenciaga's work awaken instinctive reactions” in the Roman designer. “More as an evocation than a tribute_ the shadows of his architectural forms are projected onto the present_” through “bold and disruptive volumes applied to garments that define the contemporary wardrobe_” such as “leather jackets_ chinos_ T-shirts_ knitwear and accessories”; to “a current vocabulary completely transformed through this approach_” imprinted by the hand of Piccioli.
New 'Neo Gazar' fabric
As we pointed out_ Piccioli places the historical working methodology of the Balenciaga ateliers as the gravitational stone around which he will shape this new era for the house. Within this methodology_ it is the cloth_ the fabrics_ that are discovered and presented as the starting and finishing point of this working process. Fabrics were what moved Cristóbal Balenciaga's hand when it came to shaping a design_ and ultimately_ they were what defined its very identity. Hence_ it was essential for the Spanish couturier to devise a new fabric_ gazar_ to use as a tool to partially reverse the order of this process_ arming himself with a raw material with which he could unleash all his creativity. This is a history_ and again a legacy_ of the house of Balenciaga_ which Piccioli also assumes_ and on which he begins to write an equally new chapter_ presenting Balenciaga's new 'Neo Gazar' fabric.
According to the fashion house_ the original fabric is a double-faced fabric made with two warps and two wefts. The first layer_ of gauze_ uses an irregular warp of slub yarns that naturally generates breaks and imperfections_ creating a surface “with a lively and characteristic texture.” The second layer_ of organza_ is much softer and is made with a continuous silk warp_ which provides “structure without rigidity.”
“In this new version_ Pierpaolo Piccioli_” who_ breaking with the house's historical tradition_ did come out to greet the audience after the show_ “decided to keep the visible gauze effect on the outside_ but to enrich the organza layer with an additional _lamiset_ weft_” in a silk and wool blend. “This extra thread_” noted Balenciaga_ “softens the typical rigidity of organza_ making the _neo gazar_ less stiff and more adaptable to tailoring_” but “while maintaining its distinctive qualities of volume and lightness.” This characteristic of the fabric underpins the foundations of this new era for Balenciaga_ in which the construction of the designs will once again be an “essential” value.
As is the case in this debut collection_ its “sculptural silhouette is born not from internal structures_ but from the cut of the material itself_ from the intentionality of fabric_ colour and form as a unique gesture of determination.” “Transformation arises from cut and proportion_” summarised Balenciaga_ in relation to a proposal in which “knitwear reinterprets archival fabrics with new materialities”; and in which “the house's iconic gazar is reinvented_” while “flower embroideries and feathers intertwined with the fabric itself become an architectural rather than decorative proposal_” in “another means of redefining the body from the purity of the cut.”
