Pierpaolo Piccioli Takes Balenciaga Back to Its Roots


When Balenciaga announced Pierpaolo Piccioli as its new creative director, industry insiders knew to expect a significant shift from its time under Demna. That feeling was only confirmed on Saturday, when Meghan Markle glided into Piccioli’s debut show during Paris Fashion Week, wearing a custom white pantsuit topped with a flowy, draped cape. 

Her presence alone signaled a new dawn for Balenciaga — in the past, Kim Kardashian might have been slated as the standout VIP — but the Duchess of Sussex’s outfit seemed to mark the end of Balenciaga’s high-fashion streetwear era.

Meghan Markle at the Balenciaga Spring 2026 show.

Photo: Vanni Bassetti/Getty Images for Balenciaga

Instead, Piccioli brought back elegance and refinement, paying homage to the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga. 

“Balenciaga’s creative practice placed humanity at the core of his approach,” the show notes read. “Aesthetic austerity, even severity, belies a physical lightness — a weightlessness, clothes conceived for and around a dynamic body. A crucial exchange exists between body and cloth, a shifting interrelationship. In precise gesture to his reasoning, here garments explore the space between fabric and form, the air between as a third dimension, a vital component of their construction.”

That focus on construction can be seen in the sculpted leathers, reimagined sack dresses, playful bubble-hem midis and cocoon-like coats. Piccioli also reinvented the house’s signature gazar fabric. 

“Recollection rather than tribute, shadows of Balenciaga’s architectonic shapes are embedded in the actuality of today — bold and disruptive volumes applied to clothes that define our modern wardrobe,” the show notes said 

Ahead, see every look from the Balenciaga Spring 2026 collection.

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Balenciaga Spring 2026. Photo: Launchmetrics Spotlight

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