Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2026: Pierpaolo Piccoli Recalibrates Heritage House to Spectacular Effect

By Jesse Scott 

A new era has dawned at Balenciaga. With a respectful nod to the past, but his gaze focused firmly on the future, Pierpaolo Piccoli revitalized the couture-based stylistic codes endemic to the French House in one of the season’s most dramatic creative director debuts. Examining the meaning of “Balenciaga” on a fundamental level and recalibrating the relationship between body and cloth to consider movement and fluidity within structure and austerity, Piccoli crafted a distinctly contemporary collection that can be considered as Cristobal re-interpreted for the 21st century.

The opening look set the tone for the entire collection: a futuristic head piece possessed of space-age nostalgia was paired with a simple yet elegantly draped black dress. Pierpaolo was not aggressively branding Balenciaga with his personal insignia nor was he bowing in stylistic deference to the House’s Spanish founder. Instead, he was opening up a measure dialogue between past, present, and future. Demna emphasized “results,” with the final runway looks serving as a powerful ideology which attracted millions of devoted followers. For Pierpaolo, the creative process in and of itself is the ideology: construction, and the human endeavors that facilitate it, are as much protagonists as a specific look, fabric, or color. His is a newly nuanced Balenciaga, and while bold and self-assured in its own way, it reminds us that whispers can be louder than screams.

Star-Studded Front Row Highlights Much-Anticipated Show

Since Demna’s arrival on the scene over ten years ago, Balenciaga has re-emerged as a household name transcending continent and industry. Thus, it was no surprise to see a diverse list of A-Listers of various careers and nationalities sitting front row for the first show following his departure. Anna Wintour and Baz Luhrmann posed together in complementary leather looks. Anne Hathaway strutted into the show wearing a Balenciaga graphic tee and statement sunglasses. And philanthropist Lauren Sanchez Bezos, actress Shailene Woodley, TikTok star Dixie D’Amelio, musicians FKA Twigs and Pink Pantheress, and models Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Barbara Palvin all mingled in eager anticipation of Balenciaga’s new era.

Baz Luhrmann, Anna Wintour, Anne Hathaway, PinkPantheress, Dixie D'amelio attend the Balenciaga debut collection by Pierpaolo Piccioli (Images courtesy of Getty / Balenciaga)

To put it quite simply, Demna is Demna. His larger-than-life personality and unique signature style made him an impossible act to follow, and to his immense credit, Pierpaolo did not try. There is no room for half measures in today’s fashion industry, and rather than re-interpret the Georgian designer’s avant-garde vision or tentatively try to wean Balenciaga supporters off of it, Pierpaolo made a complete 180. This inaugural collection was a high fashion purist’s high fashion, and for those that loved the original works of Cristobal and feared that they had been abandoned to the archives, it was a sight for sore eyes. Pierpaolo, it appears, took a trip through Balenciaga’s history, extracted the elements most integral to its DNA, and then revitalized them for the modern woman. A sculpted geometric leather jacket was cut in a deep V for assertive sensuality (Look 4). A fringed white dress combined a sleek modern cut with the flare of the roaring 20s (Cristobal founded Balenciaga in 1919) (Look 9). Deadly red leather was paired with ostrich-style plumes for delightful feminine/masculine interplay. And a blazer was paired with a cropped white dress shirt and playful necktie detail for a look equal parts businesslike and insouciant (Look 23).

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2026: Looks 4, 9, 23 (Images courtesy of Balenciaga)

Bright color was used sparingly, discerningly, and to outstanding effect. The show closed with a stunning sea-foam green skirt that billowed out in radiant optimism (Look 50). A royal blue military-style peacoat was one of the collection’s most sumptuous items (Look 42). And pops of mustard yellow and vibrant fuchsia (most notably on a feathered baseball cap that was one of the most fun accessories of the entire fashion season) injected playful sensibility to a collection that felt particularly technically precise.  

Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2026: Looks 42, 50 (Images courtesy of Balenciaga)

Rest Assured, Balenciaga is in Good Hands

Walking out of Balenciaga’s re-see into the Paris evening, having had the opportunity to view and interact with every piece, I both breathed a massive sigh of relief and was filled with enthusiasm for the future. Demna had been creative director at Balenciaga since before I entered the fashion industry…and he made such an indelible impact during his tenure that it was difficult to imagine the house without him. Simultaneously, the Balenciaga that I fell in love with as a child, from Cristobal’s initial couture to the exuberant and distinctly Spanish silhouettes and prints of the 1960s, seemed to have been lost forever. Yet after the Spring/Summer 2026 show, we can rest assured. Balenciaga after Demna is in perfectly capable hands. And the house’s century-old heritage has been revitalized and recalibrated for an exciting new future.