October 5, 2025 |
When he first got the job at Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli went straight to the archive, the heart of the house. He spent three days straight absorbing not just the radical silhouettes created by the founder Christobal Balenciaga but those of Nicolas Ghesquière and Demna.
“I don’t want to deny what has been here before,” he said after his debut show, held in a huge crucifix shaped room at the Balenciaga headquarters. He balanced reverence and renewal in a collection that went big on balloon dresses, bubble skirts and couture decoration. Many pieces were made from an innovative high-tech gazar fabric which allowed him to create ultra light volumes.
Christobal’s 1957 sack dress was his biggest touch stone, appealing because of its simplicity and the way it hung away from the body, which was radical at a time when everyone else was pushing hourglass silhouettes. He opened the show with a long black version, worn with bug-eyed sunglasses that nodded to Demna’s aesthetic. “That dress is so relevant and so meaningful, because it freed women from their restrictions,” he said after the show.
Another archive inspiration was the tulip dress, renewed in leather or jersey. Piccioli handled sharp simplicity with great confidence, his new take on the trouser suit was a simple tunic peeled away at the back for an architectural touch. Puff ball skirts provided drama but the designer made sure they looked modern, styling them with cropped leather T-shirts.
This designer brings a couture sensibility to every piece in the wardrobe. A skirt was embellished with curving strips of vinyl bonded to silk, and looked like futuristic feathers. Streetwear isn’t exactly dead at Balenciaga but it’s elevated by couture-like touches. Denim Bermuda shorts were worn with a jacket encrusted with 3D abstract floral appliqué. Jeans were worn with bubble shaped leather bombers, ball skirts paired with crop tees and flip flops. The City bag, riding hats and big buttoned egg shaped jackets were all picks from Ghesquiere’s era (a stellar AW06 collection comes to mind ). But it was Piccioli’s graceful sensitivity and playful romanticism that shone through as well as his many couture touches. Softer and more gentle that what went before, his new era is focused on creating a beautiful Balenciaga wardrobe every piece cut with precision and care.
Photography courtesy of Balenciaga.
