Pierpaolo Piccioli has unveiled his first couture collection for Balenciaga, a house that takes haute couture seriously.
Cristóbal Balenciaga closed the brand in 1968, declaring high fashion mortally wounded by mass production.
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Piccioli, who spent 25 years at Valentino, approached the collection with deep respect.
He spent nine months in the haute couture war room, surrounded by references from a 1961 Balenciaga dress to Spanish golden age art and a Hepworth sculpture.
Sculptural Silhouettes and Airy Fabrics
Balenciaga’s house style features clothing that stands away from the body.
The cocoon curves and bell shapes allow air to move beneath, sharing more with sculpture than with tight garments.
Piccioli described Balenciaga as “a philosopher for the way you feel in a dress.”
The show took place under a blistering Paris sun, making the airy, non-touching clothes especially appealing.
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An embroidered silk gazar bustier dress cantilevered out from the body, the fabric bouncing as the model walked.
A dense ostrich feather headpiece shaped like a motorcycle helmet was less tempting in the heat.
Piccioli brought his modern sensibility to the collection.
He wore jeans and sunglasses, contrasting with Cristóbal’s double-breasted tailoring, and a snake tattoo peeked from his lab coat cuff.
A vertical stack of three fuchsia puffballs — bolero jacket, bodice, skirt — stalked the runway like a giant fluorescent chess piece.
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It embodied the pomp and whimsy of couture where anything goes, as long as it is fabulous.
