Everything in this world follows a simple yet relentless cycle of destruction and renewal: the eternal ouroboros. Balenciaga is no exception to this rule. Demna spent a decade deconstructing the brand, reappropriating high-fashion for a young, hungry generation. He redefined what it means to wear Balenciaga yet, all good things must come to an end for else they die an ignoble death.
Now in the sturdy and respectable hands of couturier and former Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, Balenciaga enters a new period of restoration. His first collection (SS26) jolted Demna’s plump and stuffed irony backwards, returning to the classical elegance of Christobel’s Balenciaga whilst maintaining contemporary marketability, and AW26 begins to settle this delicate metamorphosis.
The collection balances disparate elements of fashion. Athleisure meets couture. Leather meets lycra. Experimentation meets practicality. Remnants of Demna’s reinvention linger in the collections periphery through clever and subtle experimentations in design. Leather is subtly embossed like a mid century love letter. ‘Balenciaga’ is stitched as a pattern across denim. A cropped fur jacket morphs into a scarf. Sneakers are inflated like clouds. A branded yoga mat sits atop a luxury bag. Opulent jewell necklaces lie next to oversized ski sunglasses. At the back of the showroom stand 5 dramatic evening dresses. In the center, a sand coloured grecco-esque draped gown that at first glance appears as silk but is made from jersey. Yet, beneath the jewel encrusted gowns, thigh slicing booty shorts secretly take centre stage. Piccioli employs a gentle illusionism like a stage magician, conjuring wearable magic from classicism.
Tech-wear peppers throughout. Athleticism has replaced tailoring and couture as the contemporary symbol of authority and power. The body is no longer moulded for decoration. Beauty is no longer effortless, it is trained, maintained and worked for. Physical optimisation is the new social currency and Piccioli understands this explicitly: “Luxury today is comfort. Ease is a state of mind. Fall 26 exists in real life – in motion, in the city, at home.” he declares on instagram. Exposed effortlessly is what’s usually hidden: the labor behind perfection: the body becomes the luxury object. Piccioli hints at antiquated codes of luxury, but reorients them through physique driven design to emphasise this cultural shift in values.
In Les Miserables, there is a harrowing song called Turning. It’s performed by the Parisian women of the fictionalised June Rebellion of 1832 and seeps quietly with hope. It comes after the climatic final battle on the barricade that leaves the bodies of men tangled amongst the wooden barricade atop the blood soaked stage. The women quietly roam the streets, singing in delicate four part harmony, tidying the collateral of the social revolution, restoring the stage for the new and uncertain world that is to come. I couldn’t help but hear it echoing in the back of my mind as I roamed Pasolini’s polished Fall 26 collection. If Demna was a hauntingly beautiful winter, then Piccioli brings the fashion house’s metaphorical Spring. Just as many of the leather bags in the collection unfurl like blossoming flowers, Pasolini is gently cultivating a new era of Balenciaga.
