\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPierpaolo Piccioli<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKuba Dabrowski\/WWD<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tHe was enthralled to discover how the legendary couturier translated very severe and austere lines into light and supple garments, meticulously choosing the right fabrics and putting air between them and the wearer.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI understood that all his work was based on the idea of the body, starting from the body, sometimes going very far from the body, but always with the body at the center of his work,\u201d Piccioli related during an interview at Balenciaga\u2019s offices on the Rue de S\u00e8vres, where his debut show is scheduled for Saturday night. \u201cSo I want to apply that method to my way of working on Balenciaga, putting humanity at the center of the research of fashion, and making it relevant for today.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI want to get into reality through silhouette and fabrics. I didn\u2019t want to be nostalgic. For me, it was important to be relevant for today, silhouettes that could be interesting today, but also wearable today\u2026 To make the ordinary very extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEven before he landed in Paris \u2014 his appointment was revealed last May \u2014 Piccioli had traveled to the founder\u2019s birthplace and visited the Museo Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga in Getaria, Spain.<\/p>\n \n\tThere he was flabbergasted to discover video footage of a woman wearing a dark Balenciaga sack dress on the streets of Paris in the \u201950s, encountering curiosity and visible scorn.<\/p>\n \n\tPiccioli saw only innovation and liberation.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSeeing the reaction of people made me understand how relevant, how disruptive and how kind his work was, freeing women from the weight\u201d of their clothes, he said, noting that Dior\u2019s original New Look weighed roughly nine pounds, versus about one or two for the sack dress.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDetails of the upcoming Balenciaga spring 2026 collection.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKuba Dabrowski\/WWD<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tFor the interview, Piccioli was dressed in black layers, his outfit sparked by a white and red pair of Triple S sneakers, size 42, which he purchased when Balenciaga first released them in 2017. The hefty shoes were emblematic of the brand\u2019s renown within streetwear circles, prized for its oversize outerwear, slogan knits and distressed jeans.<\/p>\n \n\tBalenciaga has flirted with a variety of fashion directions under its previous creative directors, which also have included\u00a0Josephus Thimister, Alexander Wang and Nicolas Ghesqui\u00e8re, who leaned into an experimental and at times futuristic approach that catapulted the house back into fashion\u2019s big leagues.<\/p>\n \n\tBefore parting ways with Valentino in March 2024, Piccioli had spent most of his career at the Roman house and sharing the\u00a0creative director\u00a0role jointly with Maria Grazia Chiuri from 2008 until 2016, when he took the lead. He started in fashion with a 10-year stint at Fendi, also working there alongside Chiuri.<\/p>\n \n\tPiccioli has been teasing his new vision for Balenciaga in a campaign that features his tattooed forearms writing with a brush and a pot of ink; a 1967 wedding ensemble by the founding Spanish designer that was also the first picture Piccioli ever uploaded on his personal Instagram page, and Roni Horn portraits of Isabelle Huppert circa 2005-2006, without makeup or red carpet attire.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn her humanity, not as celebrity,\u201d Piccioli clarified.<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s also a black-and-white image of Lucio Fontana about to slice a canvas. \u201cThat act was very meaningful, because he was creating a new world, a new possibility, and it was radical, but very spontaneous and instinctive,\u201d the designer said.<\/p>\n \n\tAs a foil to the nearly sci-fi sleekness of the wedding ensemble with its Darth Vader-esque hat, Piccioli also showcases the founder\u2019s famous rose dress, memorable for its face-framing doughnut of scrunched fabric.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn that tension lies the essence of Crist\u00f3bal, maximalism versus minimalism \u2014 both as deliberate and spontaneous gestures.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn a wide-ranging conversation with WWD, the designer elaborated on his archive trawl, his initial intentions and his ambitions for Balenciaga:<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: Should we be surprised to find out you like Balenciaga sneakers?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tPierpaolo Piccioli:<\/strong> I love what has been done here. It\u2019s not respectful, and not good for the house to deny what has been done before. I feel that a work in continuity and transformation makes the house richer, showing new sides, new aspects, new angles, new points of view.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: Please tell us more of of your impressions after visiting the archive.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: As a designer, we all know the work of Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga from afar \u2014 the volumes, the proportions. But when you see them up close, you really understand how many people have been inspired by Crist\u00f3bal. Those shapes were coming from from a very architectural point of view.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: How did you start after gathering all those impressions?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: For me, researching fabrics was very important, and particularly the silk gazar used by Crist\u00f3bal, who developed a double-yarn version which allowed a more rigid structure but without any extra weight, so this allowed him to create his architectural silhouettes.<\/p>\n \n\tI decided to create fabrics with this idea in mind, but not only silk gazar. This collection is not at all an homage to Crist\u00f3bal. It\u2019s my point of view, but I wanted to work on fabrics with the same kind of approach, with a tension between lightness and structure. So I created cotton gazar and wool gazar that could be more relevant for daily wear and life today.<\/p>\n \n\tIt took time to arrive at the simple concept of the structure and the lightness, the silhouette and the air.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: And what was your main takeaway from your exploration of the founder\u2019s birthplace?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: I feel that Crist\u00f3bal was, like me, both instinctive and rational at the same time. So once I found the method that can be good for me and close to Crist\u00f3bal\u2019s, you then have to let your instinct guide you. I want to incorporate my own sensibility and deliver in my own way. I also saw, of course, the work of Nicolas (Ghesqui\u00e8re) and Demna, of course.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: And your impressions seeing the original clothes up close?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: The colors were sometimes almost violent. I felt from Crist\u00f3bal a deliberate gesture and intentionality of choosing one fabric, one color, one shape. And that\u2019s my way of shaping a collection, also colors and fabric in one gesture only. I feel that some shapes have to be in one color, in one fabric. That\u2019s the instinct.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: So should we expect a colorful debut?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: Yes, there\u2019s color and there will some prints. I found some scarves that were very interesting because there was just an intention of color, like a human brush stroke of color on a white surface. And there are prints that look like different fabrics, like tweed, but are actually printed on gazar or taffeta.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: Were you given any specific directives or guidance from management?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: Not at all. I felt super free to follow my instinct and my vision about Balenciaga, and I felt trust from Gianfranco (Gianangeli), my CEO, and from all the team, too.<\/p>\n \n\tI believe that now more than ever, the role of a creative director can only fully flourish when it is met with genuine trust and meaningful support from the CEO. That alignment is what allows creativity to move beyond ideas and truly become impact.<\/p>\n In this company, I have been fortunate to find exactly that in Gianfranco. His support and confidence have not only strengthened my work, but also given me the sense of being understood and valued in what I bring. I am deeply aware of this, and sincerely grateful.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: You said when you joined that you would honor all the designers that came before you. How?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: They\u2019re part of the process. There are pieces like, say the T-shirt, one of the symbols of Demna, that I did with a very light jersey with a shape that can look like the very famous wedding dress.<\/p>\n \n\tDemna brought Crist\u00f3bal into the streetwear kind of reality. For me, this house is, of course, based on the idea of couture. So I want to use this idea of couture as culture to approach pieces that could be wearable, like a T-shirt, or a pair of jeans.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s not about elevating \u2014 I hate this word \u2014 but it comes from construction, study and research. Sometimes when you think about couture, you think only about beauty and not reality and coolness. I think coolness has something to do with reality.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: What do you hope to accomplish with this first show?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: I decided to show only women\u2019s because I felt that I had to redefine a new aesthetic for this house. Our job \u2014 and I repeat this to myself every day \u2014 is about witnessing our times through fashion and through an idea of beauty. My purpose is to define and to deliver my vision of beauty, but related to our times and to this house, so keeping the codes of the house, like disruption, creativity, adding probably humanity and couture as culture, but trying to do a reconciliation with everything that\u2019s been done before.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: Why did you decide to have your first show at Balenciaga headquarters?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: Because it\u2019s a space that is warm. I wanted the intimacy of a salon de couture, but without the form of a salon de couture.<\/p>\n \n\tI like the also the idea that Demna did his retrospective exhibition here. So in a way, I\u2019m starting where just left.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: It\u2019s not the easiest moment for business and luxury, and amid many creative changes. Does it affect you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: Actually, I don\u2019t feel this. We can deliver a different idea of fashion. In this game of musical chairs, we are actually people, and each of us reacts in his or her way. I\u2019m one of the chairs, but I\u2019m a person. I just do my own thing, and I don\u2019t feel the pressure of being part of this game.<\/p>\n \n\tI still feel this job as an opportunity to express my ideas and my values through my creativity.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: Under Demna, the house became known for black, oversized, and a streetwear sensibility. Should we expect any of that, or some of that, to continue?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: Demna has been disruptive, like Nicolas has been disruptive, and Crist\u00f3bal has been disruptive. Disruptiveness is part of the DNA of this house, and I like this continuing this idea of disruptiveness.<\/p>\n \n\tYou will see a silhouette that is different from what from what you see now, but in continuity with the work of the people who have been before.<\/p>\n \n\tWWD<\/strong>: What are your ambitions for the house, creatively and culturally?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tP.P<\/strong>.: To me Balenciaga is, and must stay, the most relevant house in terms of creativity. To me it\u2019s the most creative, the most disruptive, the most fashion. These past years, we have been talking a lot about business. But when talking about fashion, creativity has to be the leading force and the most relevant force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Pierpaolo Piccioli landed in Paris to start working as Balenciaga\u2019s new creative director last June, he went straight from the airport to the Balenciaga archive near Bourget, to which he would devote a total of three days, eager to inspect dresses that he had only ever seen in photos. He would spend the next month working at Balenciaga headquarters, overlapping with the tenure of Demna, who would stage his final couture show on July 9 before taking the creative lead of sister house Gucci in Italy. \u201cSo we had been sharing all the teams, all the spaces, and that was interesting, too,\u201d he said. \u201cTo have two creative directors sharing the same house for one month, you learn the idea of respect, of tolerance, of sharing, which I think is important for life, not only for fashion.\u201d Those gestures say much about Piccioli, a thoughtful, driven and deeply humanist designer who was keen to know more about those who lead the house before them, to honor their contributions \u2014 and to get to the crux of how he would put his own stamp on Balenciaga. From his deep dive into the archive, the Italian designer quickly distilled the essence of the Paris house, its legacy of disruption and the \u201cculture of couture\u201d forged by founder Crist\u00f3bal Balenciaga. Pierpaolo Piccioli Kuba Dabrowski\/WWD He was enthralled to discover how the legendary couturier translated very severe and austere lines into light and supple garments, meticulously choosing the right fabrics and putting air between them and the wearer. \u201cI understood that all his work was based on the idea of the body, starting from the body, sometimes going very far from the body, but always with the body at the center of his work,\u201d Piccioli related during an interview at Balenciaga\u2019s offices on the Rue de S\u00e8vres, where his debut show is scheduled for Saturday night. \u201cSo I want to apply that method to my way of working on Balenciaga, putting humanity at the center of the research of fashion, and making it relevant for today. \u201cI want …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pierpaolo](\"https:\/\/wwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pierpaolo-piccioli-balenciaga-ss26-kd-01.jpg?w=240\")
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